LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Tomorrow, things are going to get a lot worse for many Americans in the midst of this shutdown. SNAP food benefits will run out for about 42 million people.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Saturday's also when open enrollment begins on federal insurance exchanges, and premiums are expected to more than double on average. Democrats want to extend health care subsidies to keep those costs down. But Thursday, major airlines asked Congress to pass Republicans' stopgap funding plan. Here's United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.
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SCOTT KIRBY: It's been 30 days and - well, I don't have a position on which partisan side and how things should be settled with health care. It has been 30 days. I also think it is time to pass a clean CR.
MARTÍNEZ: The largest union for federal employees already made a similar call. So how long can Democrats continue to hold out?
FADEL: NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt went to a town hall in Maryland last night to hear what Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks and her constituents had to say. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: First, I just want to know, are Democratic lawmakers are the only ones feeling pressure right now?
SPRUNT: Well, you know, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are talking a lot about the consequences of this shutdown - people going without pay, the impending loss of some nutrition assistance. But that hasn't translated to any concrete action. Both sides remain incredibly dug in. And so at this town hall last night, I asked the senator, so how does this end?
ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: I think that the pain that has been allowed to grow impacts all of us. It's not just Democrats. Republicans are suffering too. And I think some of my colleagues will soon find out that their constituents are suffering as well, and that we ought to come together and negotiate.
SPRUNT: So you just asked me about pressure. It seems like Democrats are banking on Republican constituents applying pressure to Republican lawmakers.
FADEL: OK. So you're at this town hall. We heard unions already calling on Democrats to pass the continuing resolution from the Republicans and get it over with. Is that also the sentiment you heard from voters?
SPRUNT: No. I mean, in fact, the people that I spoke with at this event told me they want Senate Democrats to hold that line when it comes to withholding their votes, hoping to get negotiations on health care. Here's Christina Thompson (ph), one of the attendees.
CHRISTINA THOMPSON: I think they should hold out as long as possible. It's clear whose shutdown this is, you know? The Republicans hold all the leverage and all the cards, and if we back out now, then, you know, we're just showing again that the party has no backbone.
FADEL: Now, this is on track to become the longest running government shutdown. The last long one was in 2019 for 34 days. What are some of the ways that make this shutdown feel different?
SPRUNT: Well, Democrats have traditionally been hesitant to shut the government down, and we don't even have to cast too far back down on memory lane here.
FADEL: Right.
SPRUNT: Back in March, there was a sense that Democrats may hold out on supporting a bill that would fund the government. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ended up voting alongside Republicans. A shutdown was avoided. And I was with a lot of House Democrats at a retreat when he made that announcement signaling his support, and they were very upset about it. And their thinking was, as the party in the minority, they have very few opportunities to force a negotiation. And they viewed the shutdown as one of the only - if not the only - ways to influence the process. So that brings us to today. And since the shutdown began, we have seen Democrats really united. They are exerting this one leverage point, as they've called it. They don't appear to be backing down, and they seem to think that Republicans will take the blame, not them.
FADEL: And what about Republicans? What's their response?
SPRUNT: Their message has been, hey, we are holding votes to fund the government. Democrats aren't voting with us. If they care about things like funding nutrition aid and paying air traffic controllers, then they should vote with us. Here's Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier this week.
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JOHN THUNE: This isn't a political game. These are real people's lives that we're talking about. And you all have just figured out 29 days in that, oh, there might be some consequences.
SPRUNT: And we should say, the Senate has quite literally left the building. They've left for the weekend.
FADEL: That's NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt. Thank you, Barbara.
SPRUNT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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