How the shutdown has become a political stress test as tempers flare and the stakes rise

By Camila DeChalus, Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — Frustration in Washington and on Capitol Hill has reached a boiling point amid the government shutdown. What began as a standoff over spending priorities around enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies has turned into a full-blown political stress test — revealing cracks within party ranks, fiery exchanges across the aisle and growing public impatience with the gridlock on Capitol Hill.

Here’s how we got here and what’s coming next week as the shutdown continues:

The latest

Top House leaders signaled on Sunday there’s virtually no appetite for their parties to cross the aisle and engage with the other side’s demands to pass a bill to reopen the government.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told “Fox News Sunday” Democrats view the stopgap bill Republicans have presented to fund the government through November 21 as partisan.

Though the bill would extend current Biden-era spending levels, Jeffries said the legislation was “unacceptable” to Democrats because it also includes “massive cuts” codified by President Donald Trump’s domestic policy package.

“They’re trying their best to distract the American people from the simple fact that they’ve chosen a partisan fight so that they can prove to their Marxist rising base in the Democrat Party that they’re willing to fight Trump and Republicans,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday in a subsequent interview on Fox News.

Threat of missed paychecks for military families

Military families were bracing for a missed paycheck on Wednesday until President Donald Trump announced Saturday that his administration will use available Pentagon funds to pay troops on October 15 if the shutdown continues that long. The funds for military paychecks will be pulled from the Pentagon’s research and development money that’s available for two years, according to a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The looming threat of missed military paychecks had not yet forced Congress and the White House into a deal to fund the government, and both parties on the Hill seemed ready to let the October 15 military pay deadline blow by as they blamed the other side for why they are so far apart on reaching an offramp.

Tensions rise

In the House, tensions were on full display last week. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York’s swing suburbs, clashed with Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries over who’s to blame for the stalemate.

“My constituents are suffering as a result of your ridiculous play,” Lawler said during the heated exchange.

“Listen, you’re a complete and total embarrassment right now,” Jeffries responded.

Across the Capitol on the Senate side, Sen. Brian Schatz took to the Senate floor with a sharp rebuke of House Republicans.

“How is it possible that the party in charge of the government is sitting at home while the government is shut down?” Schatz said Wednesday. “Get back to work. We are facing a health care crisis.”

Hours later, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also confronted Johnson in front of the speaker’s office over his delay in swearing in newly elected Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva.

“This is the longest time it has taken for someone to be sworn in, and it all happens to coincide with the fact that she is going to be the deciding vote on the discharge petition,” Gallego said. Grijalva is expected to deliver the final signature needed on a petition that could force a House vote on compelling the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein case files.

Johnson repeatedly denied the accusation during the heated exchange. When CNN asked Gallego if their conversations resolved any of his concerns, he called Johnson “a coward and a liar.”

Gallego later described the mood in the Senate chamber as “still cordial,” but increasingly strained.

“I think some of us are extremely unhappy with the House Republicans led by Speaker Johnson,” Gallego told CNN.

His remarks came as Johnson instructed his caucus to stay in their districts rather than return to Washington — a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats who have highlighted fact that the House has now been out of session for more than three weeks.

Breaks in the Republican ranks

The tension isn’t confined to partisan lines. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has often been aligned with her party’s leadership, publicly vented her frustration at both parties last week.

“Everyone’s just getting destroyed,” Greene said in an exclusive interview with CNN. “Look, Democrats, you created this mess. Republicans, you have no solutions. You haven’t come up with a new plan in place, and we’re not even talking about it, and it is hurting so many people.”

Greene warned that the GOP could face backlash in next year’s midterm elections as voters confront rising health care costs and stalled government services. Her remarks underscore the growing unease within the Republican conference.

Johnson told Fox News he had recently called Greene to assure her that Republicans have been working “around the clock” on addressing the shutdown and offered to include her in those conversations.

One House Republican who represents a swing district, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, told CNN on Sunday he thinks Republican leadership needs to “explore all avenues” to reopen the government as the shutdown is set to extend into a third week.

Kiley told CNN’s Manu Raju he wished the Senate would pass the short-term bill to fund the government through November 21, which he called the “lesser of two evils,” adding, “I don’t agree with what Chuck Schumer is doing. I think he’s being unreasonable. But this is politics.”

The Republican said he thinks Johnson has “no justification” for keeping the House out of session since September 19, as lawmakers have “ordinary business” to carry out.

What’s next?

The Senate is expected to return to Capitol Hill next week to take up a series of proposals aimed at reopening the government, but even as the pressure mounts, there’s no clear path forward. There are no expected votes in the House through at least Tuesday.

When asked what comes next, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis admitted, “I don’t know. I think it could now go into weeks.”

Republican Sen. John Kennedy pointed the finger across the aisle, telling CNN, “I think that’s up to Senator Schumer — and frankly, Congresswoman (Alecandria) Ocasio-Cortez — because, to a large extent, she’s pulling Senator Schumer’s string. Senator Schumer wants to ingratiate himself with the socialist wing of his party, which is in control. And Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez controls that wing.”

As the shutdown drags and lawmakers dig in, the impacts are beginning to be felt throughout the country as federal workers have been laid off, others furloughed or working without pay, and military families tell CNN they are facing strain and uncertainty over future potential missed paychecks.

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