As a September 30th, 2025 midnight deadline looms, the U.S. Senate is engaged in voting on competing funding bills, with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) voting with Republicans on a clean continuing resolution (CR), a move aimed at preventing a government shutdown that could harm Nevada families. NASA is also preparing for a potential lapse in federal funding, as confirmed by Stephen Shinn, Acting NASA Chief Financial Officer, who notified employees of the possibility due to Congressional Democrats' opposition to a clean CR, which President Trump supports and the House of Representatives has passed. Senator John Thune is scheduled to hold a press conference on the "SchumerShutdown" following the vote, as reported by RWrasse. Democrats, including Representative Gallego and Senator Kelly, expressed concerns that President Trump could be further emboldened by a shutdown to take more drastic actions, with Gallego stating, "Trump has essentially already broken the government." Meanwhile, Senator Lisa Murkowski indicated her Affordable Care Act (ACA) credits bill could serve as a starting point for negotiations on renewing subsidies, proposing a short-term CR alongside three Senate-passed appropriations bills. President Trump opposes a government shutdown and strongly supports House-passed H.R. 5371, a clean CR to fund the government through November 21, according to a notification sent to NASA employees. The notification from Stephen Shinn stated that Congressional Democrats are blocking this CR in the Senate due to unrelated policy demands, warning that a funding lapse would result in the cessation of certain government activities and temporary furloughs for designated employees, with P.L. 116-1 applying. NASA has contingency plans for an orderly shutdown of affected activities. Senator Cortez Masto stated she cannot support a shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and empower the current administration, emphasizing her focus on protecting healthcare for working families and calling for bipartisan solutions to the impending healthcare crisis. The report from Jake Sherman noted Cortez Masto's vote on the clean CR was ongoing. Separately, Barron Trump reportedly shut down an entire floor of Trump Tower for a date, according to AFpost. Previous reports indicated that Democrats were accusing President Trump of using Americans as political pawns, with escalating political tensions as Congress raced to pass funding bills. The Trump administration had previously frozen $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University. Discussions also involved President Trump offering "Trump 2028" hats to Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, which they declined. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had relaxed mandatory cybersecurity training frequency for the Defense Department, and the Congressional Budget Office projected up to 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed daily in a shutdown.
