(From Todd Epp, Northern Plains News)
The federal shutdown hit day three Thursday, October 2, 2025 with South Dakota’s congressional delegation offering competing visions for ending the standoff, even as all three Republicans blame Senate Democrats for the crisis.
Federal workers are getting furlough notices, and agencies have cut public services. The splintered approach from South Dakota’s lawmakers casts doubt on whether Congress can resolve the fight before Dec. 31, when health insurance subsidies expire and could push up premiums for South Dakotans buying coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday that weekend votes are “unlikely,” pushing any resolution into next week, according to Politico. The Senate will vote Friday, then lawmakers get the weekend “to think about it” before returning Monday, Thune said.
Rounds Floats Two-Year Plan
Sen. Mike Rounds pitched a compromise Tuesday that would keep the expiring subsidies for one year, then phase them out over a second year to pre-pandemic levels, according to Politico.
“In the first year, all the states have to have an understanding of some stability to it,” Rounds said, according to Politico. After that, “we can’t continue on this path that was there for pandemic purposes only.”
Rounds said the plan could attach to a bigger spending package between Oct. 1 and Nov. 21. He pointed to a possible “minibus” of full-year bills funding agriculture, veterans affairs and congressional operations. He also suggested the Senate Finance Committee should lead work on scaling back the credits.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, included a one-year extension in a framework she released earlier in September, according to Politico. But House Republicans oppose any deal on the subsidies, with the party’s right wing pushing President Donald Trump to hold firm.
Johnson: “Dumbest Shutdown Ever”
Rep. Dusty Johnson slammed the shutdown itself while pinning blame on Democrats.
“This is really the dumbest shutdown ever,” Johnson told KOTA Territory News Wednesday. He repeated his view that “shutdowns are stupid” and accomplish nothing.
Johnson said in a statement that Senate Democrats “voted to shut the government down, putting the American workers’ paychecks at risk,” according to KELO-TV. He said Democrats are pushing $1.5 trillion in new spending for what he called “COVID-era health care subsidies for illegal immigrants and rich Americans.”
Republicans have claimed widespread fraud in Affordable Care Act enrollment by undocumented immigrants. However, independent reporters and oversight bodies have disputed those claims or not found evidence at the scale Republicans assert, according to reporting on the shutdown.
Johnson introduced the Eliminate Shutdowns Act with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin. The bill would trigger automatic 14-day funding extensions when Congress misses deadlines, using the previous year’s spending levels while talks continue.
“I was sent to Congress to make sure the government serves South Dakotans – it can’t possibly serve South Dakota if it is closed,” Johnson said in a Sept. 23 press release.
Thune Rejects Democratic Counter-Offers
Thune shot down Democratic proposals for a shorter stopgap, saying lawmakers were “quibbling over pretty small stuff” by pushing for a Nov. 1 deadline instead of the House’s Nov. 21 date, Politico reported. He warned, “there’s no way you can do a straight-up extension” of the subsidies.
Thune said he won’t negotiate a healthcare deal while the government remains closed. He’s tracking talks between rank-and-file senators from both parties and briefing the White House, but told Politico, “it all starts with reopening the government.”
The Senate leader needs five more Democrats to back the House continuing resolution. Only three have broken ranks so far: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Effects Hit South Dakota
The shutdown created confusion for South Dakotans as federal agencies gave conflicting guidance, South Dakota Searchlight reported. The Congressional Budget Office estimates about 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed.
The National Weather Service said forecasting continues, but it stopped public outreach. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Dakota told a federal court that Justice Department lawyers can’t work “except for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,” according to South Dakota Searchlight.
The shutdown started after the Senate rejected two partisan funding bills Tuesday night. Democrats want any stopgap to extend enhanced ACA tax credits expiring Dec. 31. Republicans passed a seven-week continuing resolution in the House with no health provisions.
