House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol during the government shutdown on Oct. 6, 2025.

Day 14 of the government shutdown is upon us, and the stalemate continues, with Congress still at an impasse over spending proposals.

The main bone of contention is a deadlock over healthcare funding and the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace that expires at the end of the year for people who buy their own health insurance. Democratic lawmakers want the subsidies to be extended before enrollment begins Nov. 1.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave a stark warning about the possible impacts on Oct.13, criticizing Democrats.

“We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers," Johnson said.

The longest shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 days between December 2018 and January 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term.

Some airports reject TSA video blaming Democrats for shutdown

Airports in Charlotte, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle declined to air a Department of Homeland Security video blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, citing bans on political content and concerns over violating the Hatch Act. The video, featuring Secretary Kristi Noem, warned of TSA disruptions due to Congress’ inaction. Airport officials said airing it would breach laws prohibiting political messaging on public property. Homeland Security defended the message, saying TSA employees are working unpaid but operations remain stable. The shutdown, now in its second week, has strained travel operations, with delays mounting and the U.S. travel economy losing $1 billion weekly.

— Nathan Diller

Some VA services impacted

Some of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' services have been impacted by the shutdown as thousands of its employees have been furloughed.

VA benefits like compensation, pension, education and housing are running as usual. Medical centers and clinics remain open. Support services for suicide prevention, homelessness and caregivers are also still available.

However, during the shutdown, VA benefits regional offices are closed, transition program assistance has ceased and VA cemetery grounds are not being maintained. Outreach efforts through social media and emails have also stopped.

In an Oct. 7 letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, members of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees criticized the VA's response to the shutdown. The lawmakers said the agency has been misleading over claims that it can't respond to communications from members of Congress during the shutdown.

Meanwhile, in an op-ed for The Hill published on Oct. 10, Collins called the actions of Congressional Democrats "one of the biggest displays of hypocrisy in recent history."

-Melina Khan

What time is the Senate vote?

The Senate will take up the GOP's short-term funding extension for the eighth time at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. It's expected to fail again.

The chamber will not, however, vote on the Democrats' funding bill, which has never had a good shot at passing.

-Zachary Schermele

Trump cabinet members blame upcoming 'No Kings' protests for prolonging shutdown

Two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet secretaries said Democrats are keeping the government closed for the sake of "No Kings" mass protests scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18.

The comments, made on the same Fox Business show on Oct. 13, echo congressional Republicans last week who blamed the now two-week-long shutdown on Democrats, saying they wanted to keep the government closed until after the protests, hoping to show party activists they are pushing back on the Trump administration.

In criticizing the rallies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “'No Kings' means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."

Read more

--Sarah D. Wire

'Batten down the hatches': White House says more layoffs will come as shutdown drags on

The White House said Monday that it plans to continue mass layoffs of federal workers as the government shutdown drags on.

The Office of Management of Budget, in a statement posted on X, said it is “making every preparation to batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats’ intransigence.”

“Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait,” the OMB, led by director Russell Vought, added in the statement.

The warning of additional RIFs, or reductions in force, comes after the Trump administration began firing federal workers amid the shutdown last Friday. In all, about 4,000 federal workers were laid off. But a senior administration official told USA TODAY this was just the first wave of terminations, with more to come.

The layoffs, which unions have challenged in court, gutted the Department of Education, which Trump earlier this year pushed to eliminate entirely by executive order. That includes the elimination of nearly everyone in the department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

-- Joey Garrison

How is the shutdown affecting Social Security?

Thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration have been furloughed, in turn limiting the agency's available services during the shutdown.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments are still going out during the shutdown, as they are considered mandatory spending by law and therefore not dependent on congressional approval.

While Social Security offices are also still open during the shutdown, some of the agency's services are not available, including replacing a Medicare card, issuing a proof of income letter and updating or correcting earnings records.

SSA was expected to announce the cost-of-living-adjustment for 2026 on Oct. 15, but it has been postponed to Oct. 24 due to a delay in the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' September inflation report.

-Melina Khan

Senate to vote again, mass firings continue

The Senate is set to return on Tuesday to vote for an eighth time on reopening the government. The plan is expected to fail again as the impasse continues.

Mass firings of federal government workers have been underway across multiple departments, with some of the largest cuts coming to the Treasury Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Education Department.

According to a Justice Department court filing, the targets include 1,446 employees and approximately 1,200 employees at the HHS.

At least 4,000 civil-service workers were notified Oct. 10 they were being laid off, rather than simply furloughed as in past shutdowns, and the administration warned that more are coming.

Meanwhile, President Trump vowed to continue paying members of the military.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Government shutdown hits Day 14, White House says more layoffs to come. Live updates

Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Melina Khan and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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