U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a family photo at a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. Yoan Valat/Pool via REUTERS
The United States' federal government has been partially shut down since October 1, and as of Monday afternoon, October 13, a resolution appears to be nowhere in sight.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) continues to blame Democratic lawmakers, claiming that they shut down the federal government in order to give health care to undocumented immigrants. But Democrats are calling out that claim as misleading, noting that people who are in the country illegally are not eligible for Medicaid or Obamacare and maintaining that they will not vote for any spending bill that doesn't include Obamacare subsidies for 2026.
In an October 13 column, The Economist reports that are some House Republicans are "beginning to doubt their leaders' government-shutdown tactics."
"Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, has ordered members of his party to stay away from Washington," The Economist explains. "Some worry that Americans are interpreting their absence as unwillingness to work on a resolution."
MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) is turning out to be a wild card in the spending debate.
Although she considers herself a staunch ally of President Donald Trump and is critical of Obamacare, Greene is calling for the subsidies to be funded — as millions of Americans are not reliant on the program.
"Others are concerned about America's troops, who are scheduled to miss a paycheck on October 15," The Economist observes. "Donald Trump may have relieved that pressure."
On Saturday, October 11, The Economist notes, Trump "ordered" Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "to repurpose funds so that" military troops "get paid."
Read The Economist's full column at this link (subscription needed).