A long weekend away from Washington, D.C., did little to soften Senate Democrats’ resolve as they again blocked an effort to reopen the government for an eighth time Tuesday.

The beginning of mass firings promised by the Trump administration and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought over the weekend also failed to sway Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

One pressure point was alleviated for both sides, however, with President Donald Trump’s directive to move money around at the Pentagon to pay military service members. Their paychecks are due Oct. 15.

Still, another payday, this time for Senate staffers, is fast approaching on Oct. 20.

Both sides are still dug into the same positions that launched the shutdown earlier this month, too. Talks between the opposing factions are still ongoing but have not yet yielded a result that either side is ready to move on.  

Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies before the Nov. 1 open enrollment date, and they argue that unless Congress takes action, Americans that rely on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits will see their premiums skyrocket.

However, Trump appears unwilling to cave into Senate Democrats’ demands, and reupped Republicans’ argument that Democrats wanted to undo a total of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and clawback of funding for NPR and PBS to give, in part, to illegal immigrants. 

‘I don’t want to bore you with the fact that Schumer said 100 times, ‘You should never close our government,’’ Trump told reporters at the White House. ‘But Schumer is a weakened politician. I mean, he’s going to finish his career as a failed politician, as a failed politician. He’s allowed the radical left to take over the Democrat Party.’

Senate Republicans have said that they’re open to negotiating a deal on the subsidies, with reforms to the program only after the government reopens. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for now, has no intention of straying from his plan to continue to bring the House Republicans’ short-term continuing resolution (CR) to the floor again and again.

‘Democrats like to whine that Republicans aren’t negotiating, but negotiation, Mr. President, is what you do when each side has a list of demands and you need to meet in the middle,’ Thune said on the Senate floor. ‘Republicans, as I and a lot of other people pointed out, haven’t put forward any demands. Only Democrats have made demands. And by the way, very expensive demands.’ 

Schumer noted on the Senate floor that every time Thune has put the GOP’s bill on the floor, it has failed. 

‘That means, like it or not, the Republican leader needs to work with Democrats in a bipartisan way to reopen the government, just as we did when we passed 13 CRs when I was majority leader,’ he said. 

The administration’s movement on reductions in force (RIFs) over the weekend, and the lingering threat that thousands of nonessential furloughed federal employees may not get back pay once the shutdown ends have not swayed Senate Democrats.

The same trio of Senate Democratic caucus members, Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, all broke ranks with Schumer support reopening the government.

‘Donald Trump, come to the negotiating table,’ Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at a rally outside the OMB on Tuesday. ‘Bring down costs and prices and stop inflicting harm and terrorizing federal employees and the American people.’

While most action on Capitol Hill has ground to a halt as the shutdown continues — the House, for example, has been out of session for over three weeks — the Senate has moved on other legislation, including the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act and a massive package of Trump’s nominees. Thune also teased last week that the defense spending bill could come to the floor soon.

The latest failed attempt comes on the 14th day of the shutdown and all but ensures that the closure will last into at least a third week.

It also puts this shutdown, in particular, into historic territory. While the longest shutdown on record, from late 2018 to early 2019, was under Trump’s first term, it was only partial. A handful of appropriations bills had already passed at the time, including funding for the legislative branch and defense.

But the longest full shutdown happened over two decades earlier under former President Bill Clinton between late 1995 and early 1996. That shutdown lasted 21 days and was over a budget dispute between Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

That particular dispute also led to two shutdowns in that fiscal year, the first in November and the second setting the 21-day record. 

At a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden on Tuesday on what would have been her husband’s 32nd birthday, Erika Kirk accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of Charlie Kirk and delivered a powerful, deeply personal tribute to his life and legacy.

‘Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound way,’ she began. ‘Charlie always admired your commitment to freedom.’

She offered thanks to the first lady, the vice president, and friends and family ‘watching from all around the world,’ along with Turning Point USA staff and chapters nationwide. ‘You are the heartbeat of this future and of this movement,’ she said. ‘Everything Charlie built lives through you.’

Erika added that the Presidential Medal of Freedom itself is rooted in America’s Founding. ‘The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that the national interest of the United States has always been freedom,’ she said.

‘Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution, and those words are not relics on parchment. They are a living covenant. The blessings of liberty are not man’s invention. They are God’s endowment.’

She recalled how Charlie wrote about freedom often. ‘He believed that liberty was both a right and a responsibility. And he used to say that freedom is the ability to do what is right without fear. And that’s how he lived,’ Erika said.

‘His name, Charles, literally means ‘free man.’ And that’s exactly who my husband was,’ she continued. ‘From the time I met him, sitting across from him being interviewed about politics, philosophy and theology, I saw the fire in his soul. There was this divine restlessness within him that came from knowing God placed him on this earth to protect something very sacred. He never stopped fighting for people to experience freedom.’

Erika recalled Charlie often saying that ‘without God, freedom becomes chaos’ and that liberty can only survive ‘when anchored to truth.’ She remembered him telling an audience: ‘The opposite of liberty isn’t law. It’s captivity. And the freest people in the world are those whose hearts belong to Christ.’

Looking back at his years building Turning Point USA, she said, ‘While he was building an organization, he was also building a movement: one that called people back to God, back to truth, and a movement that was filled with courage.’

She described him as a man who loved life’s simplest pleasures: quiet walks, shelves full of books and Saturday mornings in the sun with decaf coffee and his phone turned off for the Sabbath. His birthday tradition, she recalled, was mint chocolate chip ice cream, enjoyed only on July 4 and his birthday.

‘Last year, his one birthday wish was to see the Oregon Ducks play Ohio State — and they won,’ she said. ‘Mr. President, I can say with confidence that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.’

Turning to his final moments, Erika shared: ‘It was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple T-shirts that always carried a message — this one bearing a single word: freedom. That was the banner over his life.’

She said her husband never told anyone what to say but always encouraged them ‘to think outside of traditional political labels, anchored in wisdom and truth.’

‘Charlie wasn’t content to simply admire freedom. He wanted to multiply it,’ Erika said. ‘He wanted young people to taste it, understand it and defend it. He wanted them to see that liberty isn’t selfish indulgence — it’s self-governance under God.’

Every day, she recalled, he lived with fearless conviction. ‘He didn’t fear being slandered. He didn’t fear losing friends. He stood for truth and stood for freedom. Everything else was just noise to him. And it’s because his confidence in Christ was absolute.’

Erika said Charlie lived ‘only 31 short years on this side of heaven,’ but filled every day with purpose. ‘He fought for truth when it was unpopular. He stood for God when it was costly. He prayed for his enemies. He loved people when it was inconvenient. He ran his race with endurance, and he kept the faith. And now he wears the crown of a righteous martyr.’

She told the audience, ‘Heaven gained what earth could no longer contain — a free man made fully free. To all watching, this is not a ceremony. This is a commissioning. I want you to be the embodiment of this medal. I want you to free yourself from fear. I want you to stand courageously in the truth. And remember that while freedom is inherited in this country, each of us must be intentional stewards of it.’

Before closing, Erika shared her daughter Gigi’s birthday message: ‘Happy birthday, daddy. I want to give you a stuffed animal. I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream. And I want you to go have a birthday surprise. I love you.’

‘I know that you’re celebrating in heaven today, but gosh, I miss you,’ she said through tears. ‘We miss you and we love you. And we promise we’ll make you proud. Charlie’s life was proof that freedom is not a theory. It’s a testimony. He showed us that liberty begins not in the halls of power, but in the heart of a man surrendered to God.’

She ended with a final tribute: ‘To live free is the greatest gift, but to die free is the greatest victory. Happy birthday, Charlie. Happy freedom day.’

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing legislation this week that would fully ban coverage of abortion and gender transition care for minors within the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Fox News Digital has learned.

While existing law prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Hyde Amendment, many plans on the ACA exchanges still offer abortion coverage via various state-level loopholes and separate bill schemes. Hawley’s legislation would expressly state that no ACA healthcare plan can cover an abortion procedure, except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.

The legislation would similarly ban plans from offering coverage for gender transition care for minors, both in the form of drugs or procedures.

‘It’s time to ban abortion and gender transitions for minors on the healthcare exchanges,’ Hawley said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘No more loopholes.’

The legislative push comes as the Senate is already set to be focused on the ACA in the coming weeks, with a deadline for extending Obamacare subsidies looming with the Nov. 1 open enrollment date.

Democrats are already raising their voices about pushing through an extension, but Senate Republicans have said they’re open to negotiating a deal on the subsidies — with reforms — only after the government reopens.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his fellow Democrats have blocked Republican attempts to end the government shutdown eight times since Oct. 1. Schumer argues Republicans must come to the table with concessions, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., says the opposition’s demands are unreasonable.

‘Democrats like to whine that Republicans aren’t negotiating, but negotiation, Mr. President, is what you do when each side has a list of demands and you need to meet in the middle,’ Thune said on the Senate floor Tuesday. ‘Republicans, as I and a lot of other people pointed out, haven’t put forward any demands. Only Democrats have made demands. And by the way, very expensive demands.’

Republicans say Democrats are demanding that the Senate undo a total of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and claw back funding for NPR and PBS to give, in part, to illegal immigrants.

If the shutdown extends past the Nov. 1 deadline, those one ACA coverage plans could see their premiums skyrocket. It would also make this year’s shutdown the longest in American history, eclipsing the previous record set under former President Bill Clinton between late 1995 and early 1996. That shutdown lasted 21 days and was over a budget dispute between Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Fox News’ Alex Miller contributed to this report

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claiming that it may be funded or directed by Hamas or other terrorist groups.

CAIR describes itself as a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization founded in 1994 with chapters across the U.S.

The request comes as President Donald Trump led a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

Stefanik and Cotton allege CAIR’s historic ties, public rhetoric and activism raise questions about whether the group’s support for Hamas amounts to material support for terrorism.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions on terrorist groups and their affiliates, has the authority to investigate whether CAIR’s activities violate federal law, the lawmakers said.

CAIR has long denied accusations of supporting Hamas, saying it ‘does not support any foreign organization or government’ and calling such claims ‘false and Islamophobic,’ according to a statement on its website. The group says its mission is to advocate for Muslim civil rights in the U.S.

Stefanik chairs the House Republican Conference, and Cotton sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Both have pressed for stricter enforcement of anti-terror finance laws in past oversight efforts.

In July, Stefanik criticized the City University of New York for hiring a former CAIR employee. She called the decision unacceptable to New York taxpayers.

She and Cotton say a Treasury probe would ensure no U.S. assets are used to advance the objectives of Hamas.

‘We urge the department to immediately investigate whether CAIR maintains financial links to Hamas that violate U.S. sanctions,’ they wrote.

CAIR did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s death has not dimmed his legacy of encouraging an increasingly ‘unhappy’ generation to seek meaning and purpose through faith and family, young Americans told Fox News Digital.

‘I think we live in a world where people are more unhappy than ever,’ Georgetown University student Elizabeth Oliver said. ‘Depression rates and suicide are so high, and people are longing for true happiness. Charlie always talked about how ‘desires of the flesh’ aren’t fulfilling or making people happy. Instead of pursuing those things, we should turn ourselves toward higher purposes like family, marriage and God, because those are what truly fulfill people’s lives.’

‘I actually think most people are searching for something,’ she said. ‘I think that searching should be directed toward God. But I think most people recognize nowadays that what the Left has to offer is not going to lead to a fulfilling life.’

Americans’ happiness has taken a nosedive in recent years, with the U.S. falling eight spots in the 2024 World Happiness Report, which ranks countries’ life satisfaction, due to American young adults reporting they are not satisfied compared to their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Americans older than the age of 60 ranked number 10 for overall happiness, according to the study, while young adults under the age of 30 ranked 62nd internationally for happiness, CNBC reported in 2024. 

Suicide and depression rates have meanwhile skyrocketed in recent years, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that one-in-five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023, with suicide jumping by 62% among young adults when comparing 2007 data to 2021 data. 

Amid the increasing rates of unhappiness among youths, Kirk landed under the national spotlight as a youth, himself, rallying his peers to embrace conservative and Christian values to find peace. 

‘Marriage isn’t just a life milestone- it’s a calling. God didn’t say ‘wait until you feel ready.’ He said ‘it is not good for man to be alone.’ Get married young. Be fruitful and multiply,’ Kirk posted to Facebook just months before his death. 

His comments were even praised by Trump, who celebrated his message to young adults to get married. 

‘We have so many bad philosophies, ideologies, politics,’ Trump said on Fox News following Kirk’s death. ‘His was basically just good. He talked about family, he talked about getting married, ‘go get married. It sounds old-fashioned when you think about it, but he’s right.’ 

Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University, the first stop on TPUSA’s planned ‘American Comeback Tour.’ 

After news of Kirk’s killing spread across the country and world, some college students are choosing to carry on his legacy by echoing the values he championed and encouraging political debate among Gen Z peers.

Oliver is one of those Gen Zers, a college senior and president of the university’s Right to Life group,a pro-life advocacy group. She told Fox News Digital that she believes open dialogue can help renew focus on Christian conservative values.

Kirk ‘dedicated his life to talking with other people respectfully and listening to them,’ she said. ‘We desperately need more of that dialogue now, more than ever. In a world that has abandoned God and moral values, we have even abandoned the basic respect for other human beings and we need to reclaim it.’

Kirk often spoke of marriage, children and the importance of family — with his widow continuing the promotion of those values from the stage of his memorial service in Arizona in September.

‘We have an uplifting message for America, one that is hopeful, one of family formation, one off church attendance going up one of business ownership of entrepreneurship,’ Kirk said on ‘The Will Cain Show’ on May 2.

‘Trump voters, young men, they want family, children, and legacy,’ Kirk added on the Ingraham Angle Sept. 8, only two days before he was killed. ‘Young women who voted for Kamala Harris, they want careerism, consumerism, and loneliness. That is a dramatic divide that is going to play out in our politics for the years to come.’

Americans’ pessimism toward the institution of marriage and family, however, currently outweighs their optimism, according to a September 2023 Pew Research Center report called, ‘Public Has Mixed Views on the Modern American Family.’ 

‘Americans most often point to job satisfaction and close friends, rather than being married or having children, when asked what contributes to a fulfilling life,’ the report found. ‘Some 71% say having a job or career they enjoy is extremely or very important for people to live a fulfilling life, and 61% say the same about having close friends. Only about a quarter say having children (26%) or being married (23%) is equally important.’

However, young adults are picking up the mantle of Kirk’s promotion of traditional values as support for TPUSA continues to grow following his death. 

Since Kirk’s assassination, Boston University College Republicans Vice President Philip Wohltorf, who also works as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State Senate, said his group has seen a drastic increase in attendance. Democratic groups on campus, however, have not been open to debating, he said, allowing anti-conservative sentiment to spread across the student body. 

‘We were thinking, well, the left is open-minded and tolerant, they want to talk,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, they don’t, and it doesn’t really help. I think it would be great on campus if we would have a civil, calm, challenging debate. It would show the student body that people can disagree with one another but still shake hands and be friends afterward.’

He said, ‘America was founded on the principle of freedom of speech and dialogue, and nobody did it better than Charlie Kirk,’ as the cultural divide continues to widen.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Boston University College Democrats said the group sent a ‘polite decline’ to a debate request, explaining that it is ‘very difficult to make debates worthwhile.’

‘We feel it is very difficult to make debates worthwhile for participants and viewers, so we decline them with everyone, not just Republicans,’ the group said. ‘Freedom of speech is something we value greatly but we believe that open bipartisan collaboration is the path forward at this time.’

The group condemned all political violence, adding, ‘Charlie Kirk should not have died. We believe everyone should be able to share their ideas and beliefs without fear.’

TPUSA exploded with new interest after Kirk’s memorial service, receiving more than 120,000 campus chapter requests, according to the organization. 

Prior to the memorial service, TPUSA had around 60,000 requests, Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ recently said. TPUSA operates 900 official college chapters and approximately 1,200 high school chapters across the country. 

Wohltorf said more young people are standing by their values, pointing to faith and family as the most important priorities to many in his generation.

‘I like the saying that people were now posting in the past two weeks talking about how one Charlie Kirk is gone but one hundred thousand new Charlie Kirks were just created,’ Wohltorf said. ‘The majority of the conservative movement feels obligated to continue Charlie Kirk’s legacy and to continue to preach those family values, faith, and Christianity … I think that the majority conservative movement is even more likely to fight now and to speak out,’ Wohltorf said.

Oliver and Wohltorf believe these values will continue to be upheld for years to come after this political turning point. They say they’re inspired by Kirk’s legacy to share their beliefs and not be afraid.

‘I think the majority is trying to continue his legacy, feeling obligated to fight, feeling obligated to foster dialogue, debate, and challenge one another with ideas,’ Wohltorf said.

‘Ultimately, Charlie said he wants to be remembered for his courage, for his faith, and I think that message is resounding very strongly with my generation,’ Oliver said.

Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, Tuesday at the White House.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.