Any optimism either side of the aisle had that the government shutdown could end this week appeared to fade on Capitol Hill, as Senate Democrats appear ready to hold out longer for a deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies.

Senate Democrats left another long closed-door caucus lunch on Thursday, signaling a unified front as the shutdown entered its 37th day amid Republican demands to make a deal to reopen the government.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are still riding high after a successful Election Day Tuesday that saw Democratic candidates pummel their Republican opponents. While there are bipartisan talks among centrist Senate Democrats and Republicans on a way out, the majority of the caucus appeared ready to hold the line.

‘We had a very good, productive meeting,’ Schumer said as he exited the lunch.

Others espoused messages of unity among the ranks and bristled that they were holding out from reopening the government.

‘It’s not about holding out,’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. ‘We fight for access to healthcare for millions of people across this country. Affordability is a giant issue for American families. They told us that at the polls on Tuesday, but they tell us that every day of their lives.’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to put the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) on the floor again Friday to test Democrats’ resolve. It’s expected they’ll block the bill once again.

Thune and Republicans have remained firm in their position that the Obamacare issue would be considered after the government reopens, and he has offered Senate Democrats a vote on the matter, which is also expected to fail.

But Senate Democrats demand that President Donald Trump get involved and negotiate a deal on the expiring subsidies. Democrats also brushed aside comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who earlier in the day said he would not promise a vote in the House on the expiring subsidies.

‘I can tell you that Mike Johnson is only going to do what one person tells him, and that one person is Donald Trump, who has declared himself basically the Speaker of the House,’ Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said.

Still, Senate Republicans hope that Senate Democrats will accept the offer, along with the plan to pair the CR with a trio of spending bills to jump-start the government funding process.

‘I think the clear path forward here with regard to the [Obamacare] issue, open up the government, and we head down to the White House and sit down with the president and talk about it,’ Thune said. ‘But I just, right now there is hostage taking, as you all know. The consequences are getting more pronounced.’

There is also the question of whether the Senate stays in over the weekend ahead of a scheduled recess for Veterans Day next week.

Senate Democrats want to remain, but Republicans aren’t keen to stick around unless there are signs of real progress toward reopening the government.

‘I do expect to be here this weekend,’ Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said.

One year ago, Donald Trump won a transformative election victory, sweeping all seven swing states, the popular vote, and moving all fifty states redder than they were in 2020.

How did he do it?

By motivating men, young men in particular, and sports fans who were fed up with the insanity of men winning women’s sports championships. I wrote about the victory in my new book, ‘Balls,’ which was released on Tuesday.  

The book addresses the landslide Trump victory, but it also asks an important question when looking forward prospectively: Now that Trump, unfortunately, isn’t able to run for reelection, how do Republicans ensure that the Trump MAGA coalition extends, and even grows, beyond his own presidency?

In 2024, the two most conservative voting groups in America were male senior citizens and young men under the age of thirty.

This has never happened before in any of our lives.

It was a cultural transformation overnight.

Trump also won record support among White, Black, Asian and Hispanic men as well, but that same momentum didn’t extend to 2025. Indeed, Tuesday’s voting results paint an ominous picture of what 2026 and 2028 could look like if young men aren’t motivated to show up and vote like they did in 2024. 

Consider the numbers: in 2024, Trump received 1.968 million votes in New Jersey and 2.075 million votes in Virginia. While he lost both states by narrow margins to Kamala Harris — by roughly 5% — he received more votes than the Virginia Democrat candidate for governor, Abigail Spanberger — who won Virginia with 1.961 million votes — and the New Jersey Democrat candidate for governor, Mikie Sherrill — who won New Jersey with 1.792 million votes. 

So how did both Democratic gubernatorial candidates win election comfortably despite receiving fewer votes than Trump did in their states a year ago? Yes, partly because it was an off-year cycle and overall turnout trended down, but they won comfortably because roughly 600,000 Trump voters didn’t show up to vote in 2025 who did show up to vote in 2024.

Who are these voters?

Young men, sports fans, blue collar workers, the Trump MAGA base that will come out to support Trump when he’s on the ballot, but won’t show up when he’s not on the ballot.

So will these voters return in 2026 and in 2028 when Trump isn’t on the ballot? That depends on how well future Republican candidates speak to these voters. Some of y’all will think I’m crazy for telling you this, but as soon as the 2026 mid-term elections are over, expect a pivot so rapid it will make your head spin — Democrats in 2027 will all argue that Trump’s unique political gifts end with him, that MAGA is over without Trump as its leader. Yep, from ‘He’s Hitler!’ to ‘He’s the most talented Republican president in any of our lifetimes,’ almost overnight.

I’m telling you, it’s coming.

Because Democrats are going to bank on Trump as a political unicorn, a candidate so talented that only he could power a coalition as substantial as he won in 2024.

So what do Republicans need to do to extend and even grow Trump’s appeal with young men? I think it’s a combination of three things, wed the policy and the personal together, as Trump has been uniquely talented at doing.

1. On the policy front, the 2024 election was about the economy, the border, and crime

It was as easy as EBC.

Trump won the arguments on all three of these fronts. So far, Trump 2.0 has ended the border as an issue by ending illegal immigration and driven crime down to record lows in many states and cities. His challenge on the economy is that Biden was so bad, it’s taking time to clean up his mess. With record high stock prices and record low gas prices, Trump is delivering for all of us with stock market assets and all of us who have to fill up our tanks.

But there’s a lingering anger over how much goods cost. Even I feel it each time I buy a Chick-fil-A meal for my family and it costs over $50. For fast food, really!

Prices went up so fast under President Joe Biden that the sticker shock is still real even in 2025. Trump has stopped the rapid price increases and, in the case of some purchases like gas, has actually brought them back lower than they were during Biden, but that bitter aftertaste of inflation takes time to wear off.

So far it hasn’t.

2. Focus on men in women’s sports

Is it the most important issue in the country?

No.

But it crystallizes the absurdity of Democrat policies for young men and sports fans, who provided the fuel to Trump’s record win in 2024.

If you believe a man should be able to win a women’s sports championship, how can I trust your opinion on anything? As I wrote in ‘Balls,’ this issue, combined with EBC, won Trump the election in 2024. 

I think that will still be the message in 2026, too, because, amazingly, Democrats have doubled and tripled down on defending men in women’s sports all over the country.

This issue isn’t going away.

3. HAVE FUN and BE ENTERTAINING.

My two favorite moments of the 2024 campaign were when Trump dressed up as a McDonald’s employee and as a garbage man and rode around in a garbage truck.

Was it absurd and ridiculous?

Of course.

But the number one gift Trump has that he receives zero credit for is this: HE’S FUNNY!

Yes, politics are serious. But they should also be fun. Trump is a happy warrior and happy warriors win.

The two most successful Republican presidents of my life were Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Both were, in many respects, professional entertainers. They knew how to cut through the noise and were authentic in the way they did so.

Trump isn’t perfect, none of us are, but he’s the most comfortable president in his own skin that any of us have ever seen and he has tremendous political instincts.

You can spend a hundred million on an ad campaign and not get the free media attention that Trump did, scooping out fries and talking with voters at the drive-thru in Pennsylvania. That style of politicking is unbeatable. Heck, I would argue the best version of Trump is the one you get in fast food restaurants. He genuinely loves getting out and interacting with people. That’s a skill that can’t be taught, but it can be emulated.

We used to ask the question, which candidate would you rather have a beer with? While Trump doesn’t drink — as he’s jokingly said, can you imagine what he’d say if he drank? — he’s authentic and real. As artificial intelligence takes over much of the country, I believe authenticity will become the most important political key to the realm.

Young people in particular, who are steeped in social media artificiality fed to them constantly on their phones, have an innate sense of when they’re being poll-tested and marketed to, they sniff it out better than older voters.

If you want them to show up and support you, you have to win their trust.

Which is why I truly believe the election was over when it came to male voters when Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In that moment, having escaped death by half an inch, Trump, whose critics had labeled him a phony, rose up and screamed, ‘Fight, fight, fight!’ three times. At that instant, the election was over for male voters.

It was the bravest presidential moment of my life.

But it was also one of the most authentic.

In times of great peril, your own personal character is revealed. In those perilous milliseconds, Trump became a legend and won the election.

He proved once and for all he had ‘Balls.’

And so far no Democrat has proven that they do.

So long as that remains the case, Republicans aren’t going to lose men.

Which is why the best example of an oxymoron in America today isn’t ‘jumbo shrimp,’ it’s ‘masculine Democrat.’

Because after all, there are certainly big shrimp, but there are still no masculine democrats.

Clay Travis is the author of the new book, ‘Balls: How Trump, Young Men and Sports Fans Saved America.’ Buy it here.

A Democratic lawmaker is backing the Trump administration’s decision to reduce air traffic as a consequence of the ongoing government shutdown.

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said, ‘Safety must always be the highest priority’ for the aviation industry in a statement on Thursday evening.

‘The decision by Secretary Duffy to reduce flights at America’s 40 busiest airports is the right call for the safety of the flying public,’ Stanton wrote on X. ‘Now it’s critical that Republicans and Democrats get together and reach a bipartisan agreement on a plan to reduce health costs and end the shutdown.’

He concluded, ‘Arizona deserves better, and so do the hardworking professionals who keep our skies safe.’

Friday marks the 38th day of the government shutdown. Bipartisan Senate efforts to end the standoff have still not produced a clear off-ramp.

Thousands of federal employees have been furloughed as agencies and critical programs run low on funds, while government workers deemed ‘essential’ have been forced to work without pay for weeks.

People in the latter group include air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, many of whom have been forced to take second jobs and call out sick to make ends meet.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directed a 4% reduction in air traffic across 40 of the busiest airports in the U.S., taking effect on Friday.

That reduction will gradually ramp up to 10% by Nov. 14 if the shutdown does not end by then.

An emergency order issued by the FAA said the reduction would ensure the National Airspace System could ‘maintain the highest standards of safety’ amid shortages fueled by the shutdown.

That includes Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the largest airport serving Stanton’s district.

Stanton’s nearby 4th Congressional District encompasses parts of Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, including portions of Tempe and Mesa.

Back in Washington, whose two main airports are also affected by the reduction order, Democratic leaders are still publicly insisting that any funding deal be paired with an extension of COVID-19-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Republicans have argued against partisan policy riders in a funding bill to end the shutdown.

Stanton was among the House Democrats who voted against the GOP’s funding proposal when it passed the House on Sept. 19.

Senate Democrats for years have warned of the negative side effects of government shutdowns that would largely affect their priorities, but as the shutdown drags on, they find themselves in direct opposition to their own pet projects. 

‘There’s a tremendously twisted irony,’ Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital.

John Feehery of EFB Advocacy, who served as press secretary to former Republican House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert, said, ‘The most unbelievable thing’ about the shutdown is Democrats ‘hurting their own constituents.’

‘Democrats never shut the government down. This is the first time they’ve ever done this. I mean, they’ve let the Republicans shut the government down, but they’ve never done it on purpose,’ he said.

As Senate Democrats have pushed the shutdown into the longest on record, they still aren’t ready to reopen the government, even as millions who rely on food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are only set to get partial benefits.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have remained firm in their demand that they get a guarantee to extend expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in exchange for their votes to reopen the government.

Democrats have blasted President Donald Trump and his administration for threatening to not fund federal food benefits. Earlier this week, Trump said that food stamps would not be funded despite a court order requiring that they at least be partially paid for.

‘They’re the ones who shut down the government,’ Lummis said. ‘They won’t reopen it, and so they got nothing to complain about. It’s within their control to reopen the government. It’s in their control.’

His administration has since changed course, however, and announced in a memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Americans that rely on the benefits would receive 65% of their typical allotted amount. A federal judge then ordered the administration to fully fund food benefits by Friday. 

‘We’re finding out that it’s hurting the union workers, it’s hurting air travelers, it’s hurting people who rely on food stamps. I mean, it’s hurting Democrats,’ Feehery said. ‘Their higher priority is showing that they’re tough against Trump, and they’re more than happy to use their constituents as cannon fodder.’

Democrats acknowledge that the pain of the shutdown can’t be ignored but remain firm that their fight to extend the healthcare subsidies is one worth having.

‘Shutdowns suck. I want it over here, but I don’t think we have fully come to recognize how much pain is going to exist in this country when 4 million people lose their healthcare insurance,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. ‘That’s as devastating, if not more devastating, in the long run, than the pain people are feeling this month.’

Julian Epstein, former chief counsel for House Judiciary Committee Democrats, told Fox News Digital that Republicans had an opportunity to seize the narrative on healthcare.

‘If I were advising Trump, I would tell him to make the case in an Oval Office address that the Democrats are voting to close the government and that it’s the Republicans that want to open it. The president should also lay out his vision for controlling healthcare premiums,’ Epstein said. ‘Voters are starting to tune out the invective from both sides, and all the noise. They want a clear plan for their economic concerns.’

And Feehery similarly argued Republicans should take their moment on healthcare, pointing out that Democrats are effectively delaying the discussion on Obamacare by prolonging the shutdown.

‘If Republicans were smart, they would be talking about why Obamacare is fundamentally broken and how to fundamentally change that. But Republicans don’t really like to talk about healthcare, which is kind of annoying,’ he said. ‘But yeah, I do think that the fact that it’s gone past the [Nov. 1 open enrollment] deadline has made this even more complicated.’

There is a sense on Capitol Hill that the shutdown could be coming to an end, but Republicans contend it will be up to Senate Democrats.

A dozen centrist Democrats are mulling an offer from the GOP that would guarantee a vote on the expiring subsidies after the government reopens, coupled with the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) and a trio of spending bills to jump start the government funding process.

But many in the caucus say that’s not enough, and demand that Trump sit down and meet with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to hash out a deal.

Democrats also believe that Republicans are feeling the heat from Tuesday night’s elections, where Democratic candidates swept their Republican opponents in statewide elections, and they point to comments Trump made that the shutdown was hurting the GOP.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., contended that what Trump meant was Democrats were using the shutdown ‘to fire up their base.’

‘But I think it’s also incredibly sad that SNAP recipients and federal workers and their families and Head Start families all had to go without so they could help the New York City election,’ Lankford said. ‘And that’s pretty sad.’

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., who is running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, told Fox News Digital, ‘Every day the Schumer Shutdown drags on, Americans pay the price — missed paychecks, canceled flights, and threats to public safety. Democrats aren’t helping anyone, they’re sowing chaos and achieving nothing.’

Still, Democrats largely remain firm that the only off-ramp they want starts at the White House.

‘Shutdowns are terrible. I mean, I don’t know what to tell you,’ Sen. Bryan Schatz, D-Hawaii, told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s really awful what people are going through. And the only way out of this is a negotiation.’

North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast Friday, just days after U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth wrapped up a visit to South Korea focused on deterring Pyongyang and reinforcing the alliance between the two countries.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the suspected short-range missile was fired from an inland area around the western county of Taekwan toward the East Sea, traveling roughly 435 miles. The launch was reported by Reuters and The Associated Press, citing military officials in Seoul and Tokyo.

No injuries or damage were reported, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. Seoul’s military added that it had detected signs of preparations before the launch and was monitoring additional activity in the area, according to The Associated Press.

Reuters reported that North Korea has conducted several missile launches in recent weeks, including systems it claims are ‘cutting-edge’ strategic weapons.

During his three-day visit to South Korea on Nov. 4, Hegseth spoke to reporters following annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul and said he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Seoul’s commitment to increasing defense spending and investing more heavily in its own military capabilities. He said both allies agreed that these investments would strengthen South Korea’s ability to take the lead in conventional deterrence against its northern adversary.

Hegseth added that President Donald Trump’s decision to support South Korea’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines was driven by his desire to have strong allies. ‘And because Korea has been a model ally, he’s open to opportunities like that, that ensure they have the best capabilities in their own defense and alongside us as allies,’ he said.

The United States and South Korea have maintained close military coordination as Pyongyang accelerates its weapons testing program. Hegseth’s visit was meant to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the alliance and emphasize deterrence against North Korea. His remarks in Seoul echoed earlier statements that the alliance will stay focused on deterring North Korea.

When asked whether the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea might be used in conflicts beyond the peninsula, including with China, Hegseth said that protecting against nuclear-armed North Korea remains the alliance’s primary goal. ‘But there’s no doubt that flexibility for regional contingency is something we would take a look at,’ he told reporters.

Friday’s launch underscores the fragile security situation on the peninsula and highlights ongoing tensions as North Korea continues to expand its missile capabilities. Both Seoul and Tokyo said they are analyzing the launch in coordination with the United States.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.