The dome of the U.S. Capitol is reflected in a window as people visit the Washington Monument, more than a month into the continuing U.S. government shutdown in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

By Bo Erickson, Nolan D. McCaskill and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Democrats continued to hold out on agreeing to end the record-long federal government shutdown on Thursday, despite Republican overtures to reverse federal employee layoffs as part of a bid to reopen shuttered agencies.

Democrats spent nearly two hours in their second closed-door caucus meeting in as many days on the 37th day of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which has furloughed about 750,000 federal employees, forced thousands more to work without pay and shut off food assistance and Head Start subsidies for millions of Americans, including children. A new pressure point was expected to open in the days ahead as major U.S. airports braced for a 10% cut in airline flights due to a lack of pay for air-traffic controllers.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but need 60 votes to reopen the government. With one Republican opposed to short-term funding, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota would need at least eight Democrats to break with their party. Up until now, only two Democrats and an independent who caucuses with them have been willing to do so.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York described the session as "a very good, productive meeting." Others struck similarly upbeat tones.

But some Democrats were less sanguine. “I don’t know how productive it was in there,” said Senator John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, one of only three members of the Senate Democratic conference to support a short-term bill to reopen the government.

Republicans said they offered Democrats a path to reopening the government that included a short-term stopgap funding measure and a package of full-year appropriations bills to pay for agriculture programs including food assistance, military construction, veterans affairs and the legislative branch.

POSSIBLE REVERSAL OF LAYOFFS

In bipartisan talks, Republicans have also shown an openness to reversing some of the mass federal workforce layoffs ordered by President Donald Trump's White House and protecting federal jobs from future cuts.

“The discussion was a healthcare discussion, and in the last few days, it's also become a discussion about what I've been calling the moratorium on mischief,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia told reporters.

A short-term bill to fund federal agencies through November 21 has failed 14 times in the Senate, with opposition from Democrats who demand that Republicans first agree to negotiate an extension of federal healthcare subsidies. Republicans say the government must reopen first. A 15th vote on the bill was expected on Friday.

“We have to make sure we have a deal that we can get broad support for,” said Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who has been involved in bipartisan talks. “There are a lot of things that have been kicked around as part of the deal. Nothing's really crystallized.”

HOUSE MOVES UNCERTAIN

As an incentive to reopening the government, Thune has offered to give Democrats a Senate floor vote to extend expiring federal tax credits that help lower-income Americans pay for private health insurance. There was no such guarantee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives .

“I’m not part of the negotiation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana told reporters. “I’m not promising anybody anything.”

Asked about that remark, Peters replied: “That’s a significant problem."

Democrats have repeatedly called on Trump to begin negotiations on healthcare, a prospect that Republicans say should come only after the government reopens.

But Republican Senator Thom Tillis said the White House could intervene with House Republican leaders to guarantee a House vote on ACA tax credits, should legislation pass the Senate.

"That's a legitimate task for the White House to take on," said Tillis, of North Carolina. "They can at least signal that if you all get out of this, then we will allow a vote."

If Senate Democrats and Republicans managed to reach a deal to reopen the government this week, agencies would still likely remain shuttered for days. Such a measure would require approval from the House before Trump could sign it into law.

House Republican leaders, who have kept the chamber out of session since before the shutdown began, have pledged to give members 48 hours' notice before calling them back to Washington and 72 hours to review legislation before holding any votes.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson and David Morgan, editing by Scott Malone and Diane Craft)