The government shutdown entered its 32nd day Saturday as President Trump intensified pressure on Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster while Democrats prepared to use Tuesday’s state and local elections as a referendum on the month-long budget crisis. The White House is doubling down on its call for Republicans to end the shutdown by abolishing the filibuster, an unprecedented move that GOP leaders have so far resisted, while Democrats look poised to dig in on their demands as Republicans grapple with the politics of the shutdown.
About six in 10 Americans disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president according to a new poll from ABC News, the Washington Post and Ipsos, with majorities disapproving of Trump’s handling of a range of key issues and 67% saying things in the country are pretty seriously off on the wrong track. The president’s approval rating in the poll stands at 41% approve to 59% disapprove, similar to the current polling average showing sustained negative sentiment toward Trump’s performance.
Three-quarters in the new poll say they are concerned about the shutdown, up from 66% who felt that way in a Washington Post poll on the first day the government shut down. The growing anxiety demonstrates that the extended funding lapse is penetrating public consciousness despite Trump’s efforts to blame Democrats for blocking government funding legislation.
Trump’s approval ratings are deeply negative on the economy with 37% approving to 62% disapproving, with most saying 59% blame Trump a great deal or a good amount for the current rate of inflation, and more seeing themselves as worse off at 37% than better off at 18% financially since Trump became president. The economic pessimism creates challenging environment for Republicans heading into Tuesday’s elections that both parties view as early test of voter response to Trump’s second-term agenda.
We’re tracking key races in California, New York, Virginia and New Jersey with Democrats deploying top surrogates including former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris as they seek to position the November 4th elections as a referendum on Trump. The Democratic strategy reflects confidence that voter anger about the shutdown will translate into electoral gains at state and local levels despite Republicans controlling the federal government.
Trump’s nuclear testing announcement added another layer of controversy to an already tumultuous week. Energy Secretary Samuel Wright said in an interview with Fox News that the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests, clarifying these are not nuclear explosions but what we call noncritical explosions. Wright emphasized that the tests would not pose a public threat, saying this is not something where people who live in the Nevada desert should expect to see a mushroom cloud at some point.
When asked how much notice he had of Trump’s announcement on nuclear weapons testing, Wright did not give a direct answer but said the president has clearly been concerned about the United States being the preeminent military power in the world. The secretary also noted that the government shutdown is affecting the advancement in nuclear efforts and is slowing down the modernizing of our nuclear stockpile.
The shutdown’s impact on national security programs provides Republicans with additional arguments that Democrats’ refusal to pass clean funding legislation threatens essential government functions beyond routine services. However, critics note that the administration possessed legal authority to maintain nuclear programs using contingency funds similar to those federal judges ordered used for SNAP benefits.
After the 2013 government shutdown ended, Republican leaders made clear they had only been humoring Senator Ted Cruz and his plot to defund Obamacare, with then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating it was not a smart play and had no chance of success. Then-House Speaker John Boehner initially said the GOP had fought the good fight but would later say the plan never had a chance and even called Cruz Lucifer in the flesh.
This is how shutdowns generally go with the side seeking a concession fighting what they view as the good fight and then giving up when it becomes clear that it’s also a losing fight, because as McConnell has often said, shutdowns don’t work. The historical pattern suggests Republicans will eventually capitulate, though the timing remains uncertain as Trump shows no signs of backing down from his demand that Democrats vote for clean funding without healthcare guarantees.
But we’re in a very different kind of shutdown this time—one where it’s much tougher to see the politics forming an obvious off-ramp, with polling on blame remarkably constant since before the shutdown began. People continue to blame President Donald Trump and the Republicans more than Democrats by double-digit margins in most surveys, with that margin at 45%-33% in a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Thursday.
A Yahoo News-YouGov poll meanwhile showed 46% said they blamed conservative Republicans a lot for the shutdown—more than the 38% who blamed progressive Democrats that much. Surveys also continue to show that Democrats’ policy demand, an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, remains popular with more than 7 in 10 Americans.
A pair of federal judges soon ordered the administration to release the emergency funds to at least partially cover food stamp benefits, but ahead of the rulings Republicans did a great job making themselves out to be opposed to this—and even ready to fight against it. Trump on Friday night ultimately indicated he would do what he could to fund SNAP after Supreme Court intervention, though the administration continued fighting judicial orders rather than immediately complying.
Another major factor here is what the shutdown could do for Democrats with evidence this has led to something of a badly needed rallying effect on the left. The reason the Democratic Party has seen some of its worst poll numbers in history this year is largely because Democrats themselves have lost faith in their party. The shutdown has provided progressives with clear villain in Trump and concrete issue to mobilize around, potentially reversing demoralization that characterized much of 2025.
This was of course Trump’s big threat to Democrats with him making a big show of casting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought as the grim reaper ready to target Democratic employees and programs for cuts—even as some Republicans cautioned the White House that such cuts could squander the GOP’s political advantages. Then the administration followed through but it doesn’t seem to have dissuaded Democrats from pressing forward, and there’s now reason to believe those Republicans had a point about these cuts backfiring on the administration.
Indeed much of the GOP’s handling of this seems rather haphazard, and Friday was a case in point with the day starting with Republicans dealing with a curveball from Trump who decided late Thursday to suddenly urge them to nuke the filibuster to end the shutdown. This completely impractical idea also legitimized a key Democratic talking point—that Republicans could end the shutdown any time they want.
Conservative institutionalists recognize that eliminating the filibuster would empower future Democratic majorities to pass sweeping progressive legislation without Republican input, creating long-term risks that outweigh short-term benefits of ending the current shutdown. Trump’s filibuster demand generated confusion among congressional Republicans who had been unified in blaming Democrats but now face questions about why they refuse to pursue the president’s suggested solution.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated earlier in the shutdown that eliminating the filibuster is something that should be avoided at all costs, demonstrating that GOP leadership views protecting the parliamentary procedure as more important than accommodating Trump’s tactical preferences. The filibuster has historically protected conservative interests by requiring bipartisan consensus for major legislation, making its elimination potentially catastrophic for long-term Republican policy goals.
The question now facing Washington is whether Tuesday’s elections will create sufficient political pressure to force compromise or whether both parties will interpret results as validating their respective strategies. Democrats view polling showing Trump and Republicans receiving most blame as evidence voters support their position, while GOP leaders argue that public opinion will shift once premium increases from expired healthcare subsidies become visible to millions of Americans during open enrollment beginning November 1st.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are skittish about the shutdown with increasing worry among bipartisan lawmakers about federal workers not getting paid and the cessation of emergency food benefits known as SNAP. The mounting human costs create pressure on pragmatic members from both parties to find face-saving compromise, though progressive activists continue demanding Democrats hold firm on healthcare subsidies.
There seems to be some indication of a thaw according to Senator Richard Blumenthal, though Republicans aren’t relenting. The mixed signals about potential breakthroughs reflect the challenging dynamics where rank-and-file members seek resolution while party leaders maintain hardline positions driven by ideological commitments and fear of appearing weak.
As the shutdown enters November with Tuesday’s elections looming, the convergence of deteriorating public opinion toward Trump, mounting economic costs from suspended SNAP benefits, and aviation chaos from air traffic controller shortages creates maximum pressure on Republicans to either capitulate or face potential electoral consequences. However, Trump’s doubling down on filibuster elimination and refusal to compromise on healthcare subsidies suggests the president believes Democrats will ultimately bear responsibility for the crisis regardless of polling evidence to the contrary.
