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President Donald Trump has ordered senators to remain in Washington D.C. throughout the weekend to negotiate an end to the ongoing government shutdown. But negotiations — even among Republicans — have become fractious.

That's according to a Friday article in Politico, which reported that bipartisan talks in the Senate have appeared to sputter after an offer from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was almost instantly rejected by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) along with most of the Senate Republican Conference. That deal included a one-year extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are due to expire at the end of 2025, in exchange for Democrats voting for the House of Representatives' continuing resolution that House Republicans passed in September.

Now, Politico reports that senators are once again at an impasse. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) was not optimistic that his colleagues would be able to hammer out an agreement by the end of the weekend.

"What we have here is an intergalactic freak show," Kennedy said after leaving a closed-door meeting with the Senate Republican Conference. When asked what senators could accomplish this weekend, the Louisiana Republican said "nothing."

"We're going to be here for a long time," he said.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), whose bill to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) was blocked by Thune in October, was unmoved by Republicans' apparent inability to come together on a solution to end the shutdown.

"My adage is, put them in a barn and don’t let them out until they come up with a solution," he told Politico.

According to the outlet, senior members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been assembling a three-bill package that would fund government agencies and programs for a full year, while bipartisan Senate negotiators are contemplating three separate bills to fund government agencies through next year. Senators are also pushing for legislation that would prevent Trump from making so-called "pocket rescissions," in which the president refuses to allow money appropriated by Congress to be spent. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argued it was "insane" that Trump had yet to meet with Congressional leadership to iron out a deal.

"They refuse to engage," he said. "It’s killing the country."

Republicans are facing their next crisis after getting thrashed in elections last week — voters are seeing slow growth in their paychecks, making President Donald Trump's blindspot on affordability more startling and creating a larger problem for the GOP ahead of midterms.

Americans are feeling pessimistic over their economic futures and concerned over their own financial health, Politico reports Tuesday.

Economists also predict mass layoffs, climbing unemployment, a dip in job opportunities and hesitation among employers to hire new workers and potentially offer raises for current employees.

As wage growth has fallen and inflation rises, it's hitting lower- and middle-income families even harder since the beginning of 2025, according to the Bank of America Institute. These are the slowest rates of income growth seen since the early 2010s, when the economy was bouncing back from the Great Recession (2007-2009) and the unemployment rate was nearly double what it is now.

“We’re clearly going through a soft patch now,” Gary Schlossberg, an economist and global strategist for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told Politico. “Households are going to be feeling some pain. [And] if you’re focused on the trajectory of wage inflation, I think it will be slower next year.”

This presents a "serious risk to Republicans" and exposes the weak point the GOP will face in 2026 as they refine their approach and message to address economic woes for Americans.

And while Trump claims inflation is declining, voters don't agree. Since his second term, he is losing the historic advantage he previously had over Democrats, Politico reported.

Only 34% of voters approve of the president's handling of the economy, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. This figure matches President Joe Biden's polling results during the end of his administration.

Although Trump's administration has argued he will shift his attention to the economy — even offering potential $2,000 checks for low and middle income Americans with tariff revenue — he's also attempting to lower drug prices and suggesting that 50-year mortgages could help reduce costs for people each month.

Tax cuts promised by the Trump administration could bring some relief, but it's expected that those cuts will help the wealthy and give them better purchasing power.

It still won't change that inflation is rising or how Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown could hit wage growth for lower-income jobs often done by immigrants, Recruitonomics Chief Economist Andrew Flowers told Politico.

The reality is that inflation is “worse today than it was at the start of the year, or a year ago,” Flowers argues.