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Senators from both parties quietly negotiated the contours of an emerging deal. With a nod from their leadership, the senators seek a way to reopen the government, put the normal federal funding process back on track and devise a resolution to the crisis of expiring health insurance subsidies that will spike premium costs from coast to coast.

"Enough is enough," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., as he opened the deadlocked chamber.

Day 35 of the federal government shutdown tied the record for the longest; that will be broken Wednesday. With SNAP benefits interrupted for millions of Americans depending on federal food aid, hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay and contracts being delayed, many on and off Capitol Hill say it's time for it to end.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted there could be chaos in the skies next week if the shutdown drags on and air traffic controllers miss another paycheck. Labor unions put pressure on lawmakers to reopen the government.

Another test vote Tuesday in the Senate failed as Democrats rejected a temporary government funding bill.

"We're not asking for anything radical," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. "Lowering people's health care costs is the definition of common sense."

Trump threatens food aid

Unlike the shutdown during President Donald Trump's first term, when he fought Congress in 2018-19 to try to get funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, the president has been largely absent from this shutdown debate.

But on Tuesday, Trump issued a fresh threat, warning he would halt SNAP food aid unless Democrats agree to reopen the government.

SNAP benefits "will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!" Trump said on social media.

Two courts on Friday ordered the administration to release the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contingency funds.

Trump's top spokeswoman, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed later the administration continues to pay out SNAP funding in line with court orders.

With House Speaker Mike Johnson having sent lawmakers home in September, most attention is on the Senate. There, the leadership outsourced negotiations to a loose group of centrist dealmakers from both parties who have been quietly charting a way to end the standoff.

Potential deal

Central to any endgame will be a series of agreements that would need to be upheld not only by the Senate, but also the House, and the White House, which is not at all certain in Washington where Republicans have full control of the government.

First of all, senators from both parties, particularly the powerful members of the Appropriations Committee, are pushing to ensure the normal government funding process can be put back on track.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., along with several Democrats, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Chris Coons of Delaware, are among those working behind the scenes.

"The pace of talks have increased," said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has been involved in conversations.

Among the goals is guaranteeing upcoming votes on a smaller package of bills where there is already widespread bipartisan agreement to fund various aspects of governments, like agricultural programs and military construction projects at bases.

"I certainly think that that three-bill package is primed to do a lot of good things for the American people," said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who has also been in talks.

More difficult, a substantial number of senators also want some resolution to the standoff over the funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are scheduled to expire at year's end.

White House 

The White House says its position remains unchanged and that Democrats must vote to fund the government until talks over health care can begin.

With insurance premium notices being sent, millions of Americans are experiencing sticker shock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of federal subsidies, which come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave many people unable to buy health insurance.

Republicans, with control of the House and Senate, are reluctant to fund the health care program, also known as Obamacare. Thune claims he'll give Democrats a vote on their preferred proposal in the future as part of any deal to reopen government.

That's not enough for some senators, who see the health care deadlock as part of their broader concerns with Trump's direction for the country.

"Trump is a schoolyard bully," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Independent from Vermont, in an op-ed. "Anyone who thinks surrendering to him now will lead to better outcomes and cooperation in the future does not understand how a power-hungry demagogue operates."

Democrats, and some Republicans, also are pushing for guardrails to prevent the Trump administration's practice of unilaterally slashing funds for programs that Congress already approved, by law, the way billionaire Elon Musk did this year at the Department of Government Efficiency.

The Senate, which is split 53-47, tried and failed more than a dozen times to advance the House-passed bill over the filibuster. It would have funded government until Nov. 21.

Trump demanded senators nuke the filibuster, the Senate rule that requires a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation, which preserves minority rights in the chamber. GOP senators panned that demand.