Even as the government shutdown stretched into Wednesday and surpassed the record for the longest in American history, President Trump showed no interest in negotiating with Democrats.
Instead, as the two sides entered their 36th day at an impasse, the administration signaled it planned to ramp up the pain.
The president threatened on social media on Tuesday to deny food subsidy payments for 42 million Americans until the end of the government shutdown, in apparent defiance of a court order. (The White House press secretary later said the administration would comply with the court.)
Mr. Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, warned he might have to close parts of the national airspace next week because of the potential “mass chaos” with air traffic controller shortages.
And the White House again left open the possibility it might not follow its legal obligation to restore back pay to furloughed workers who have missed paychecks during the shutdown.
Taken together, the administration’s message was simple: Either Democrats back down from their demand to extend expiring health care subsidies, or the fallout of the shutdown will get worse.
On Wednesday after midnight, this year’s fiscal impasse pushed past 35 full days, breaking the ignominious record for the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which was previously set by the 34-day shutdown of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Unlike that standoff, the president has not involved himself in negotiations to end the current dilemma. Instead, the White House is betting that Democrats’ key constituencies will turn on them the longer they continue to refuse to support the G.O.P. plan for a short-term spending extension at current funding levels.
The administration has pointed to the calls by some union leaders for Congress to reopen the government under the Republican plan and then negotiate over health care costs.
“The Democrats obstructionism will break the record for the longest government shutdown in American history tonight,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said at a news conference. “The Democrats are intentionally hurting American families, workers and businesses with this shutdown.”
When asked what Mr. Trump was doing to end the government shutdown, Ms. Leavitt said he was “pushing Republicans to keep voting” on a funding bill. Mr. Trump has invited all Republican senators for a discussion at the White House Wednesday.
It remains to be seen which party Americans will hold ultimately accountable for the paralysis in Washington. But recent public surveys show a larger share currently put the responsibility on Republicans.
“I really try to avoid making this an issue out of what the polls say, or who’s winning or losing, because nobody wins,” Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the top Republican in the Senate, told reporters. “Shutdowns are stupid. I’ve been here long enough to have been through a few of them. Nobody wins.”
Democrats say the president’s refusal to engage in discussions means Mr. Trump is responsible for the impact on Americans.
Speaking to reporters, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, said Tuesday that some informal talks were underway and that Democrats were “exploring all the options.”
But he said Mr. Trump has not involved himself.
“The fault of this shutdown falls on his shoulders,” Mr. Schumer said. “He’s refused to discuss anything with us.”
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the House, said Democrats would not back down until they secured a deal to improve health care benefits.
“Donald Trump is unlawfully withholding billions of dollars in SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans and 16 million children,” said Mr. Jeffries, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “There’s nothing to be optimistic about relative to the cruelty and the pain that Donald Trump and Republicans continue to inflict on the American people.”
He suggested Democrats could gain more political momentum for their position with wins in governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey Tuesday night.
“It’s over for these people,” he said of Republicans before polls closed, “and we’re going to see it today, and we’re going to see it during the midterm elections.”
For weeks the Trump administration has played a game of winners and losers with the shutdown, aiming to mitigate the harm to the military and law enforcement, while ramping up the pressure on Democratic constituencies. Mr. Trump has used the fiscal impasse to halt funding to Democratic jurisdictions, and tried to lay off thousands of federal workers.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said the pain would intensify.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said that food stamp benefits under SNAP “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Hours after that ultimatum, Ms. Leavitt appeared to walk back the president’s comments. She told reporters at a news briefing that the administration was “fully complying” with the court and would provide partial food stamp payments in November.
The White House declined to elaborate on Mr. Trump’s plans. The Agriculture Department which administers the program, did not respond to a request for comment.
For his part, Mr. Duffy, the transportation secretary, warned of “mass chaos” in the skies.
“You will see mass chaos, you will see mass flight delays, you will see mass cancellations,” he said during a news conference, accusing Democrats of perpetuating what he called a “senseless shutdown.”
“And you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” he said.
The most recent notifications from agencies to federal workers about the shutdown omitted any language that furloughed employees would receive back pay, which is guaranteed under a law that Mr. Trump signed in 2019.
Ms. Leavitt would not commit to the administration complying with the law, saying Tuesday that the matter was the subject of negotiations.
“This is something we are very much open to discussing with Democrats as part of the discussions about the continuing resolution to keep the government open,” she said.
Mr. Trump has previously threatened to withhold back pay for some federal workers, adding that “some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”
Tony Romm, Karoun Demirjian, Erica L. Green and Eileen Sullivan contributed reporting.
Luke Broadwater covers the White House for The Times.
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