David Frum: “Previous shutdowns were fought over specific grievances: Republican pressure against new taxes in 1990, then for spending cuts in 1995–96 and again in 2013; Democratic resistance to Donald Trump’s border wall in 2018–19. At 35 days, that latter shutdown holds the record for the longest—for now.”

“These specific grievances were never the whole story, but they enabled each side to explain itself and offered an exit when the time came to resolve the dispute. For example, the 2018–19 shutdown ended when Trump dropped his demand for a $5 billion appropriation for his wall.”

“The present shutdown was also triggered by a single issue: the COVID-era tax credits that subsidize health-insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, which Democrats want to extend before they expire at the end of the year. Yet a compromise over the stated cause will barely address the real issue at the center of this fight.”

“That real issue is Trump’s challenge to Congress’s constitutional taxing and spending powers.”

“The nation’s largest union of federal workers is calling on Congress to pass a short-term funding bill and immediately end the government shutdown as it heads into its fourth week,” Politico reports.

From a statement: “Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight. It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship.”

The Bulwark: “It’s no surprise government employees are under extra duress during a lengthy shutdown, particularly since the White House has used it as a pretext to do still-deeper cuts to the federal workforce. But whether this open pressure shakes any additional Democrats loose from their till-now firm opposition to a current-levels spending bill remains to be seen.” 

“The U.S. government’s debt burden is on track to exceed levels in both Italy and Greece for the first time this century, underscoring the parlous state of America’s public finances,” the Financial Times reports.