Shutdown standstill: No headway until there's 'incentive,' politicos lament

We’re two weeks into the government shutdown. There’s no movement by either side. Is President Trump seemingly relishing it?

"The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to," the president boasted. "They're never going to come back in many cases. So, we're being able to do things that we were unable to do before. So, we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we wanted to close up or that we never wanted to happen."

He added that his administration would simultaneously preserve "Republican programs."

As a result, fired feds are fuming.

NO. 2 HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS HEALTHCARE DRIVES PARTY'S STRATEGY AS SHUTDOWN HEADS INTO NEXT WEEK

"Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!" chanted a group of RIF’d federal workers, egged on by Virginia and Maryland Democrats during a protest at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Trump administration’s scythe slashed the job of Christopher Pumford at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in February.

"It's very hard to find a job in this economy," said Pumford. "It's very hard for me to find my next step, especially since I invested a lot of time and money into being specialized in international relations."

Pumford said he thought he might spend his "career serving the American people."

But he’s out of work now.

With a government shutdown raging on for two weeks and little movement on either side to show for it, one must ask: Is President Trump relishing the chaos? (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo; Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"I would love to be there for you and to be able to serve. But unfortunately the administration has other ideas," said Pumford.

The FDA just canned Jessica Weinberg. Weinberg says even her 6-year-old son realized the financial distress now facing the family.

"He knows that mommy is out of work, and we're worried about paying our bills," said Weinberg.

So, her son offered to print 3D Minecraft Legos to sell.

"He didn't want to make money so he could buy himself more toys, which he's always asking for, but so he can help us pay our mortgage," said Weinberg. "It was the sweetest and most heartbreaking thing he's ever said."

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OMB warned people on social media to "batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats’ intransigence."

Republicans are doubling down. That’s why nothing has evolved during the shutdown in weeks.

"There is nothing to negotiate," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., refuses to recall the House until Senate Democrats cave to the GOP demand to fund the government — without any add-ons — through Nov. 21.

That means no House hearings. In fact, the House last conducted a hearing — in Charlotte, N.C., on crime — on Sept. 29.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said his Republican colleagues "need to get their butts back working." (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

As a result, the House only convenes for a few seconds every three days for what’s called a "pro forma" session. The House gavels in, conducts some quick ministerial business like the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer and then gavels out without legislative business, debate or votes.

House Democrats are taking note of the GOP’s conspicuous absence.

"They need to get their butts back working," said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md.

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During the 2013 government shutdown, Congress traded competing spending proposals. In fact, the House passed one measure and sent it to the Senate. But the Senate immediately flushed it, sending the measure back to the House. It was a 45-minute round-trip from the House to the Senate for that spending package.

The House also conducted hearings on Obamacare and veterans issues during the 2013 shutdown.

Both bodies handled some business on the floor during the record 34-day shutdown that stretched from late 2018 into early 2019.

Congress has even postponed a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for 90-year-old Willie O’Ree, the first Black player in the National Hockey League.

Speaker Johnson still refuses to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Despite the paucity of congressional action during this shutdown, Johnson concedes the House is handling some tasks — behind the scenes.

"The attorneys for the House Oversight Committee during the shutdown are still doing work. They were in New York City combing through the Epstein estate files," said Johnson.

Really.

DEMOCRAT SUCCEEDS HER LATE FATHER IN CONGRESS AS GOP HOUSE MAJORITY SHRINKS

Johnson still refuses to seat Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz. She’s the daughter of late Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who died of cancer in March after serving in Congress for more than two decades. The younger Grijalva won the special election to succeed her father more than three weeks ago.

The congresswoman-elect would provide the pivotal, 218th signature on a petition to go over the head of the speaker and force a vote on the House floor to release the Epstein files. Johnson has long said his refusal to swear-in Grijalva has nothing to do with the Epstein files. He even said the House would swear her in "whenever" she wanted. But then Johnson said he couldn’t do so since the House wasn’t meeting in regular session. He added that Grijalva deserved the "pomp and circumstance" of a full House session to become a member.

"Doesn't your resistance to (swearing her in) add fuel to the fire that this is about the Epstein files?" yours truly asked.

"No," replied Johnson, saying the House wanted to release the files in an orderly way and not expose names of some of the women victimized by Epstein. "We have a duty and responsibility. You can't just wave a wand and just, you know, open the floodgates."

Democrats aren't buying into Johnson's reasoning on the Grijalva situation. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats aren’t buying Johnson’s reasoning.

"She is not concerned about the pomp and circumstance. She wants to get about the business of doing the job that she was elected to do," said Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz. "By the way, the speaker did forego the pomp and circumstance with the two Republican members from Florida when they were sworn in the day after their elections in a pro forma. I mean, the hypocrisy is blatant, and it's unacceptable."

That’s a reference to Johnson swearing in Reps. Randy Fine, R-Fla., and Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., just after they won their special elections in the spring. Republicans argued they needed the votes of Fine and Patronis to help pass the Big, Beautiful Bill.

"No member of this body should have the authority to ignore the will of the voters of a particular district," said Stanton.

'WE DON'T WANT ANYTHING': TRUMP SPEAKS ON REPUBLICAN PARTY'S STANCE ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Johnson pointed out that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., didn’t swear in Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., for 25 days after she won her 2021 special election. But that was partially because the House was out for wide swaths of time due to COVID-19.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., actually delayed his own swearing-in for more than a month after he won a 2017 special election. Gomez was a member of the California state legislature. His vote was needed in Sacramento to help Democrats pass a controversial climate change law. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was minority leader at the time. McCarthy even called out Pelosi and Gomez for the holdup at the time.

So, don’t expect a resolution to Grijalva’s circumstances any time soon. Let alone the government shutdown.

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"We're not making much headway this week," lamented Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "I think both sides think that there is a political advantage for them sticking with the positions that they have. And until such time as they think that they actually might be slipping a little bit, I don't think you have the incentive."

And until there is incentive, nothing will change with the shutdown.