The Democrat-induced government shutdown is set to break the record for the longest shutdown in history.
Senate Democrats blocked the GOP's clean funding resolution on September 30, initiating the government shutdown on October 1. Over a month has passed since then, with the shutdown inching toward the 35-day record after over a dozen failed Senate votes.
'REPUBLICANS, BE TOUGH AND SMART!'
If this streak of failed votes continues through midnight Wednesday as expected, the government shutdown will have surpassed the previous record-holding 35-day shutdown from President Donald Trump's first term.
Although neither party has indicated that a deal is on the horizon, Trump has urged Republicans to deploy the nuclear option to bring the shutdown to a close.
RELATED: Trump urges Senate to deploy the 'Nuclear Option' on filibuster
"TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, NOT JUST FOR THE SHUTDOWN, BUT FOR EVERYTHING ELSE," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "WE WILL GET ALL OF OUR COMMON SENSE POLICIES APPROVED (VOTER ID, ANYONE?) AND MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! REMEMBER, THE DEMOCRATS WILL DO IT IMMEDIATELY, AS SOON AS THEY GET THE CHANCE. OUR DOING IT WILL NOT GIVE THEM THE CHANCE."
"REPUBLICANS, BE TOUGH AND SMART! THE DEMS ARE CRAZED LUNATICS, THEY WILL NOT OPEN UP OUR COUNTRY NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IRREPARABLY HARMED!"
Trump's calls to eliminate the filibuster would allow Republicans to pass their funding bill with a simple majority as opposed to the 60-vote threshold currently in place. Only three Democrats have consistently crossed the aisle and voted with Republicans to reopen the government, falling short of the 60 votes needed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, an institutionalist, has always been against eliminating the filibuster. Despite pressure from the president, Thune maintains that his "position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged."
While Congress shows no signs of progress, millions of Americans lost key government benefits like food assistance programs that lapsed over the weekend. Programs like SNAP affect citizens across the country, but Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is taking the opportunity to clean house, ensuring illegal aliens are not taking advantage of the program.
"I'm glad to see the Trump administration is working to get to the bottom of why 41 million people are on SNAP and why this program exploded on Joe Biden's watch," said Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has repeatedly voted with Democrats against the funding bill, in a post on X. "It's time to root out the waste, fraud, and abuse."
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The U.S. Senate voted thrice this week on resolutions seeking to block President Donald Trump's tariffs. All three resolutions passed because a handful of Republican senators joined forces with their Democratic colleagues.
Invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, Trump declared a national emergency on April 2 — which he dubbed "Liberation Day" — and announced that he was imposing a 10% tariff on most imports to the U.S. and additional duties on select trading partners.
'It's about Congress reasserting our authority.'
The protectionist course charted by the White House ruffled feathers in both parties, especially those of liberals committed to untrammeled free trade.
When trying unsuccessfully to kill Trump's tariffs earlier this year, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wrote, "The Constitution clearly states that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse. All new taxes (which is what a tariff is) are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives before going to the Senate for approval."
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments next month regarding the legality of the tariffs imposed by Trump under the IEEPA. Just in case the ruling doesn't go their way, liberals in Congress' upper house apparently want to exhaust all other avenues.
RELATED: Vance calls out Massie for bucking the GOP ‘on every single issue,’ making ‘too many enemies’
On Tuesday, the Senate voted on whether to axe Trump's 50% tariffs on imports from Brazil. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina helped Democrats pass Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine's (D) resolution in a 52-48 vote.
"Protectionists eagerly celebrate the revenue from tariff duties. But they don't talk nearly as much about how much of that revenue they'll spend protecting American growers and producers from the avoidable harm of their policies," McConnell stated on Tuesday. "Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule."
On Wednesday, the Senate voted on whether to axe Trump's tariffs on imports from Canada. While this time around Tillis voted no, Collins, McConnell, Murkowski, and Paul helped Democrats once again pass their resolution.
On Thursday, the Senate voted on whether to end the national emergency the president used to impose global tariffs. The same four Republicans joined forces with Democrats to pass Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) resolution in a 51-47 vote.
Murkowski said in a statement, "This series of votes isn't just about registering the Senate's disapproval of the President's emergency declaration on tariffs — it's about Congress reasserting our authority as a co-equal branch of government with defined powers and responsibilities."
Although all three resolutions will now be sent to the House for consideration, they appear to be wasted ink and paper, as Republican House leaders have effectively blocked votes challenging Trump's tariffs until March 2026, and even then, Trump could veto them.
Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.
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A handful of Senate Republicans defied President Donald Trump in a contentious vote to block the administration's tariffs on Brazil.
The Senate narrowly passed a resolution Tuesday night to zero out Trump's 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in a 52-48 vote. Five Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — aided all 47 Democrats to pass the resolution.
The resolution is likely to die in the House before ever making it to Trump's desk.
This rebuke comes from Trump's most vocal critics in the Senate, all of whom have bucked the administration in the past.
Paul has repeatedly voted against Republican funding bills, including the continuing resolution that would reopen the government, all but guaranteeing he is disinvited from many White House events his colleagues attend. Tillis, who announced he would be retiring following this term, also voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Collins, Murkowski, and McConnell have been a thorn in Trump's side, repeatedly voting against key nominees.
RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking Senate vote after Republicans join Democrats to tank Trump's tariffs
The resolution is likely to die in the House before ever making it to Trump's desk. Even if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) were to hold a vote on the resolution, the Republican majority would likely side with the administration.
Notably, this is not the first time Republicans defied the White House to block Trump's tariffs.
Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote back in May to block a similar resolution that would have halted Trump's tariffs. At the time, Murkowski, Collins, and Paul were the three lawmakers who went against the grain.
RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking vote after Republicans betray Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
"Farmers are hurting. Inflation is squeezing every worker. And tariffs are making it worse," Paul said in a recent post on X. "We can’t print enough money to paper over bad policy."
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Nearly a month into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have refused to reopen the government over a dozen times. Even still, Democrats are pointing the finger at Republicans.
Although Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of Congress, there's been a hang-up in the Senate. Instead of a simple majority, the Senate actually needs 60 votes in order to pass the continuing resolution. Republicans do hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, but they need the help of at least seven Democrats to reopen the government.
Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times.
This is easier said than done. When the Senate voted on the GOP's clean continuing resolution on September 30, only three Democrats crossed the aisle in an attempt to keep the government open: Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine.
Both Cortez Masto and King origianally voted against the bill on September 19 but flipped their votes ahead of the funding deadline. Notably, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has consistently voted with Democrats.
As a result, the government shut down and has remained closed ever since midnight of October 1.
RELATED: Democrat senator blocks vote to end shutdown to protest Trump's 'authoritarianism' in drawn-out rant
The Republicans' funding bill is clean and entirely non-ideological, while the Democrats' hyper-partisan alternative boasts a hefty $1.5 trillion price tag. Democrats have also insisted on renegotiating the Obamacare subsidies despite the fact that they won't expire until the end of the year.
Now 28 days into the shutdown, Senate Democrats have effectively voted to continue withholding paychecks from federal workers and critical benefits from the American people over a dozen times. Here is a breakdown of every time Democrats voted to keep the government shut down.
RELATED: 'These people are sick': Trump admin slams top Dem for justifying shutdown suffering
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Margaret Brennan pretended that Antifa is just an 'ideology' and not a domestic terror threat on Sunday's edition of 'Face the Nation.'
She asks Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro if he believes the Trump administration is, 'trying to stifle dissent and people who would disagree.'
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