Republicans might be united on the public stage as they face off with Democrats ahead of a government shutdown. But a much more divisive internal fight waits in the wings.

The year-end expiration of health insurance subsidies first created under the Affordable Care Act is already splitting the GOP, seeming to vindicate Democrats’ decision to predicate their shutdown messaging on extending the tax credits.

Republican leaders have been trying to punt the issue as they work to force Democratic senators to swallow a seven-week stopgap measure ahead of the midnight deadline, insisting they will not broach the subject while agencies are closed.

But top Democrats said they heard a different message Monday in their Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, leaving the sitdown convinced he’s willing to negotiate on the expiring tax credits in the weeks ahead.

That is already raising alarms among conservative Republicans, who despise the 2010 Democratic health care law known as Obamacare and who would be more than happy to see a 2021 enhancement of the premium tax credits sunset cold turkey on Dec. 31.

“The right proposal is to let them expire,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Tuesday. “It’s been a complete fraud. People don’t even know they have these policies. So the right thing is to let them expire.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a leader of the hard-right House GOP faction, urged party leaders not to cut an “11th hour” deal on “Covid-era inflationary subsidies” in an X post Sunday.

“We’ve never voted for them. We shouldn’t now,” he said. “Do. Not. Blink.”

But Trump — who has veered the GOP away from anti-entitlement rhetoric on programs like Social Security and Medicaid — has not publicly ruled out an extension of the expanded tax credits, which benefit about 20 million Americans. Instead, in recent days, he has kept his public comments focused on purported Democratic efforts to benefit undocumented immigrants, who are already barred from receiving the subsidies.

Trump administration officials, including some involved in Monday’s White House meeting and in separate conversations with the president, confirm he is willing to talk about a possible extension with Democrats. Addressing reporters after the meeting, Vice President JD Vance said the two parties should “work on it together,” while echoing congressional Republicans in adding that talks would have to take place in the “context of an open government.”

There are self-interested reasons for Trump and Vance to want a solution: A spike in health insurance premiums for millions of Americans could be politically perilous less than a year before the midterm elections. A prominent Trump pollster, Tony Fabrizio, warned in July that allowing the subsidies to lapse “could hand the GOP majority to Democrats.”

More than a dozen moderate House Republicans want at least a one-year extension of the subsidies, while a group of GOP senators are working on a proposal that would continue them but also impose some new restrictions. Many are relieved that Trump appears to be finally entering the fray before open enrollment starts Nov. 1 and insurers start to lock in pricing for 2026.

Yet the deep internal GOP divisions have led Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to privately argue, including to Trump’s team, that any talks around a possible extension will take months on Capitol Hill. In addition to major questions about the costs of an extension, a politically toxic fight over abortion coverage also threatens to bog the GOP down.

Publicly, Johnson and Thune are pushing to keep the health care discussions entirely distinct from the shutdown conversations, even as Democrats lean on the subsidies as a messaging wedge in the throes of the funding fight.

Johnson called Democrats’ ACA extension demands a “red herring” Tuesday as the shutdown drama unfolded.

“We’re happy to sit down with them and talk about the concerns they have, the issues they have with, for example, the premium tax credits,” he said. “But we can’t do that in context of a hostage situation.”

But with word of Trump’s willingness to deal now emerging, some House Republicans are broaching their own possible support for those talks — knowing that Trump will have to be intimately involved in any bipartisan deal, and give cover for its passage through the Republican-controlled Congress.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), a fiscal hawk who spoke out against an extension of the subsidies as recently as last week, said it’s hard to weigh in on “hypotheticals.” But he said, generally, he would trust Trump.

“I trust that if he engages that there will be something in the deal that’s worthwhile for Republicans or, you know, he wouldn’t do it,” he said.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said he agreed with Vance that no discussions should take place amid a shutdown. But he said Trump would be wise to open up negotiations with Democrats about a phase-out of the boosted tax credits.

“I don’t want to punish the American people because their program failed,” Griffith said. “We got to come up with something different. But in the meantime, let’s figure out a glide path.”

Mia McCarthy and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Democrats who have put health care at the center of their government funding demands have another motivation for not backing down ahead of a likely shutdown: ending President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine Congress’ funding power.

The fight to wrest control of the federal pursestrings has been ongoing for eight months, with lawmakers of both parties growing increasingly resentful of the White House’s snowballing efforts to scrap congressionally approved spending. Now the Supreme Court’s brief but potent ruling last Friday giving Trump the thumbs up to withhold $4 billion is serving as lighter fluid for Democrats’ escalating rage.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a senior appropriator, called the Supreme Court decision “an absurdity” and “a pile of garbage,” adding that the justices were in effect dabbling at “policymaking — not constitutional law.”

The battle to rein in Trump and White House budget director Russ Vought through a piece of must-pass legislation has been eclipsed by Democrats’ larger push to extend expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits that are due to expire at the end of the year.

But Democrats are seething about the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” opinion, arguing that Trump and the high court are ignoring the intent of the 1974 law designed to prevent presidents from withholding federal cash. And they see themselves as the last line of defense.

“He is unchecked at this point,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), another senior appropriator, said of Trump in an interview. “We have to check him. No one should have that kind of power.”

Earlier this month, Democrats put forward an alternative to the GOP-led stopgap funding patch. Their proposed bill, which Republicans have rejected, would extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies and roll back some of the Medicaid cuts Republicans enacted as part of their megabill over the summer. It also would thwart Trump’s ability to withhold and cancel federal funding.

One provision would altogether end the fast-track process of clawing back funding on a simple-majority vote in the Senate, as Republicans did this summer in clearing Trump’s request to rescind $9 billion from foreign aid programs and public broadcasting. Democrats also included language to hamper Trump’s effort to cancel a separate $4.9 billion through a “pocket rescission,” by extending the expiration date of that cash.

“Nobody has any incentive to reach a deal if it’s not going to be honored,” Merkley said, expressing Democrats’ fear of agreeing to a funding bill the White House later flouts. “That’s what it comes down to.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he made a similar point during a meeting Monday with Trump, calling the president’s funding moves “the other issue that was sharply drawn” during the Oval Office discussion with other top congressional leaders.

Schumer said he and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “made the point clear” that it would be futile to negotiate a bipartisan agreement if the president can then “undo it all without any input.”

Democrats are also exasperated that the vast majority of their Republican colleagues aren’t willing to buck Trump to protect their own power to dictate how federal money is spent.

“It’s in the interest of Congress to not allow the executive to rescind funding that Congress has already approved,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said in an interview. “I would hope that everybody’s going to come to that conclusion.”

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is among the few Republicans publicly subscribing to that view. In rolling out her own framework this month for averting a government shutdown, Murkowski also suggested language to hamper what she called Trump’s “illegal pocket rescission.”

But other powerful Republican appropriators argue that Trump would never sign a bill that impedes his moves to freeze, shift and cancel federal funding.

“I don’t know very many presidents that tie their own hands in the use of executive authority,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters this week.

Cole also contends that the battle over Congress’ funding powers “will be solved in the courts” and that “the power of the purse could pretty clearly rest with Congress as long as we do our job.”

In its Friday ruling, however, the Supreme Court largely punted on the fundamental separation-of-powers questions at stake in the funding fight. Instead, it ruled on technical grounds that Trump’s recent pocket rescission could go forward.

In the final hours before the shutdown deadline, many Republicans are characterizing Democratic outrage about Trump’s funding moves as another item on a laundry list of unreasonable demands.

“Think about what Schumer’s doing here,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said in a brief interview. “How much sense does it make for him to start complaining about pocket rescissions when he won’t even let us bring the appropriations bills to the floor?”

If Schumer and other Senate Democrats would only vote to pass the GOP-led funding patch, Hoeven said, the chamber could move on to clearing bipartisan measures to fund the government at updated totals for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday.

Ultimately, Democrats contend that their demands in the shutdown battle are closely interconnected. Beyond the extension of expiring health care subsidies, minority party leaders are fighting against the Trump administration’s cuts to health efforts like medical research and assistance for state and local health programs.

“They further have worked at decimating public health by stealing the funds that have been appropriated by Democrats and Republicans,” said House Appropriations ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). “We need to have assurances that once we come to a deal, they’re not going to step in and say, ‘Sorry, no deal.’”

Mia McCarthy, Cassandra Dumay and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

A government shutdown is looking increasingly likely, and Congress is set to experience the self-inflicted pain of the institution’s inability to pass a spending bill to fund its own operations.

During the last, partial shutdown, which began at the very end of 2018 and concluded 35 days later, a legislative branch appropriations bill had already been enacted, which allowed Capitol Hill to function without interruption.

This time, none of the annual government funding measures have been signed into law. Those who worked in the Capitol complex under these same conditions in 2013, when the government was shuttered for 17 days, will recall extensive waits to enter office buildings, closed parking garages, skipped paychecks and tourists distraught over canceled tours.

Thirteen years later, things will look a little bit different. House and Senate employees, for instance, are now guaranteed backpay under law, even if they may miss a paycheck during a shutdown. That could lead to fewer furloughs, with lawmakers more confident that their staffer will eventually be made whole. But the bathrooms around the complex will still go uncleaned and it could require a longer walk to grab a cup of coffee.

Here’s a guide of what to expect on Capitol Hill if federal funding lapses after midnight Wednesday.

Who is ‘essential’

Unlike executive branch agencies that must follow guidance from the Office of Management and Budget regarding which workers are “essential” and which must be furloughed during a government shutdown, members of Congress can decide for themselves how many of their staffers can continue to work.

In the past — such as in the 2013 shutdown — many lawmakers deemed every staffer essential to keep them paid for the duration of a shutdown, while others went down to a skeleton crew. Since that time, a 2019 law was enacted guaranteeing backpay for all federal employees whether they worked or not during a shutdown, meaning staffing in House, Senate and Committee offices will likely be operating at full strength.

Many staffers will feel the pinch

Just because every congressional aide will eventually get paid doesn’t mean they won’t feel the effects of a missing paycheck. A handful of staffers, given anonymity to candidly discuss personal finances, said they will be seeking assistance from family or other sources to pay their rent in the event of an extended shutdown.

Furloughed employees will still get their health and life insurance benefits. The Congressional Federal Credit Union offers “furlough relief loans” and Navy Federal Credit Union and USAA have similar policies for members. However, the student loan repayment assistance program offered by the House and Senate will halt operations during the shutdown.

Limits on perks and side gigs

The House Ethics Committee typically puts out a call in advance of a shutdown warning members and staff that “during a lapse in appropriations, you remain subject to all ethics rules and regulations” — that is, be careful not to accept gifts from anyone, even if you’re strapped for cash. The Ethics panel specifically reminds aides there are rules against taking on ad hoc jobs with their bosses’ campaigns while still employed with a congressional office.

Staffers are also not allowed to collect unemployment benefits during a shutdown.

No backpay for contractors

Scores of contract workers that run the eateries and other services on Capitol Hill — among the lowest-paid workers on the Capitol campus — will not receive backpay for wages lost during shutdown-related furloughs and closures. Food service workers, granted anonymity so speak candidly, said in interviews they were stressed this week about missing paychecks.

Lawmakers can’t refuse salaries

Members of Congress will get their paychecks because the Treasury Department is constitutionally obligated to send them. Some lawmakers don’t like the optics of getting paid during a shutdown and put out statements insisting they are declining their compensation. Technically, however, all they can do is request their checks be held until the shutdown is resolved, or donate their salaries later to a cause of their choosing.

Logistical woes

Capitol Police will maintain full staffing in order to continue prioritizing “life safety” operations but will likely adjust its numbers when stationing officers at the various doors around the House and Senate office buildings. That means staffers and visitors should brace for long security lines at a limited number of entry points.

The Capitol Visitors Center will be closed and no tours — by the professional “red coat” guides or staff — will be permitted, although lawmakers will be allowed to take small groups around the complex.

The House staff gym will be closed. The members’ gym will be open, “but will not be staffed or cleaned.” Custodial services will also be discontinued for the private bathrooms many members have in their office suites.

Classic amenities like the barber shop and shoe shine station will also be closed. The in-house dry cleaner will “remain open temporarily to allow for customers to pick up items” but then, likewise, shutter.

Where to eat in a shutdown

The Longworth House Office Building will be the food hub on the House side, with both the cafeteria and Starbucks open — the cafeteria from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Starbucks from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The unstaffed convenience stories will remain open, but all other House eateries will be closed.

Across the Capitol, Cups and Co. in the Russell Senate Office Building is also expected to stay open, but other guidance on Senate food options have not been finalized.

Congressional leaders left a high-stakes Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump without a breakthrough Monday, greatly raising the likelihood of a government shutdown starting early Wednesday morning.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at the White House that “there are still large differences between us.”

“Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input,” he added, referring to a House-passed seven-week stopgap funding bill that Senate Democrats rejected earlier this month. “That is never how we’ve done this before.”

“I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President JD Vance said after Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke. He accused the Democrats of making “preposterous” demands and said “you don’t use your policy disagreements as leverage.”

But Vance also became the first Trump administration official to open the door to negotiations on a key Democratic demand — an extension of key health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“Let’s work on it together,” he said, while insisting any talks would have to happen in the “context of an open government.”

Another person granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting said it was a “frank discussion” but that the two sides were “too far apart” at this point. “There’s no way right now,” the person added.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump himself cast doubt on the prospects for a deal.

“They’re going to have to do some things because their ideas are not very good ones,” he said about Democrats. “They’re very bad for our country, so we’ll see how that works out.”

The meeting, held just ahead of the Tuesday midnight shutdown deadline, was the first time Trump has held a formal meeting with the top Democratic leaders since he was sworn in for a second term in January. It’s also the first time they have spoken at all about government funding in that time.

Leading up to the meeting, Schumer and Jeffries struck different tones about what would be an acceptable solution to the shutdown standoff. Jeffries staked out a hard line on health care, saying any agreement needed to “ironclad and in legislation” and suggesting any kind of handshake agreement to continue negotiating would not be enough. Schumer was more circumspect, telling reporters on Monday “we’re ready to get to work. It’s about time.”

Democrats have insisted health care be part of government funding negotiations, with the extension of Obamacare insurance subsidies forming the core of their demands. While Republicans have opened the door to negotiating on the tax credits, which are available to people receiving health care through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and expire at the end of the year, they have insisted they be dealt with separately from the pending shutdown fight.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, said a commitment from GOP leaders to work on extending the tax credits would be a “real mark of progress.”

“Whether it’s enough, I can’t say,” he added.

GOP leaders so far are ruling out any idea that they’d agree to ACA talks as part of an agreement to avert a shutdown.

“Most of our guys would lose their minds,” said a senior House GOP aide involved in the talks.

Republican leaders are navigating competing schools of thought within their own ranks about how to handle the subsidies and are looking for a clear sign from Trump to guide their efforts to reach a potential agreement later this year. They are also under fierce pressure from their right-flanks not to cut an 11th-hour deal with Democrats, believing they have the political upper hand heading into a potential shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed before leaving for the White House that the Senate will vote on Tuesday on the House-passed continuing resolution that would fund the government until Nov. 21, buying lawmakers more time to negotiate full-year appropriations bills and reach a potential deal on the insurance subsidies.

After the meeting, he accused Democrats of engaging in a “hostage-taking exercise” and declared that Republicans were united behind the seven-week bill.

“It is totally up to the Democrats because right now, they are the only thing standing between the American people and the government shutting down,” Thune said.

Democrats rejected the GOP-led stopgap earlier this month, and if they reject it a second time, Thune is expected to tee it back up for another vote. Republicans are also looking at other procedural steps they could take to squeeze Democrats during a shutdown.

Senate Democrats are privately discussing multiple options for how to get out of a shutdown and keep pressure on Republicans to come to the table on the insurance subsidies, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose internal discussions.

Senate Democrats can also force a re-vote on their proposal that would extend funding through Oct. 31 and would reverse $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid from the GOP’s recent domestic policy megabill, along with a permanent extension of the health insurance subsidies.

It would also restrict the president’s authority to claw back congressionally approved funding, addressing Democratic frustrations over the Trump administration’s recent moves to reverse bipartisan spending bills. Further vexing Democrats was White House budget chief Russ Vought’s threat last week to engage in mass firings of federal workers in case of a shutdown.

House Democrats have publicly and privately fretted that Senate Democrats could reverse course and vote to advance GOP-backed funding legislation after most House Democrats opposed it. Helping fuel that concern, several Senate Democrats have sidestepped questions over the past week about what they might do if Republicans moved toward formal negotiations on the Obamacare subsidies.

Asked if an agreement to keep talking is the best Democrats can reasonably expect, Durbin said, “I’m not going to go into that. I’m just going to say if we’re not sitting down talking about ending this responsibly and helping people deal with health care, it’s going to be a rocky road.”