Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, from left, Senator Angus King, an Independent from Maine, Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, and Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, at a news conference during a vote at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on November 9, 2025. Photo: VCG

As the US government has been shut down for 40 days as of Monday — the longest in the nation's history — signs of a potential breakthrough finally began to emerge, with moderate Democrats engaging in talks with Republicans to reopen the government. 

A Chinese analyst said the intractable partisan divide where both parties seem determined to destroy each other politically has made this the longest government shutdown in American history.

As the US Senate held a rare Sunday session, US Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, said a potential deal was "coming together" on the government shutdown, though there was no guarantee it would end an impasse now stretching into its sixth week, CNBC reported Sunday.

According to CBS News, eight Democrats joined US Senate Republicans late Sunday night in voting to advance a US House-passed short-term funding measure, the first step in weeks toward ending the government shutdown. Fourteen previous Senate votes had failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to move the legislation forward. Though more hurdles remain, the latest vote could pave the way for an end to the shutdown as early as this week.

CNBC also reported that top Republicans were working with those Democrats to finalize a legislative package that would reopen the government while also approving full-year funding for several parts of the government. The bill would also potentially reverse some recent mass layoffs of federal workers. 

However, the full details were still unclear, and the necessary Democratic support was far from certain as it appeared unlikely the package would extend health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year, CNBC said.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that extreme political polarization and the erosion of mutual trust between Democrats and Republicans have led to the prolonged deadlock. "Both sides need to reach a relatively acceptable compromise on certain political issues, such as the Affordable Care Act, and make concessions. Otherwise, the shutdown will continue to cause massive losses," Lü said.

He noted that while government shutdowns have occurred before and are sometimes used as political leverage, a prolonged halt like this one could have far-reaching social consequences. "If the shutdown continues for another 10 days or even into next month, it could trigger a social crisis. Many federal employees would go two to three months without pay, which would have severe repercussions," Lü said.

Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress, giving them greater leverage, while Democrats are trying to use the annual budget negotiations to defend the Affordable Care Act, Lü explained. "Typically, compromise should come from the stronger side," he said, adding that much depends on whether Republicans can propose a viable alternative and win over moderate Democrats.

The push for a deal came as moderate Democrats huddled over the weekend to find a compromise to reopen the government as the shutdown continued to disrupt flights nationwide, threaten food assistance for millions of Americans and leave federal workers without pay, CNBC reported.

According to CNBC, food banks are now in "disaster response mode" due to the government shutdown and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts, "The damage gets worse and worse every day," Brian Greene, the president and CEO of Houston Food Bank, was quoted as saying. In Houston, a growing number of furloughed federal workers have turned to food banks for help.

Transportation has also been heavily affected. CNBC cited US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as warning that commercial air travel in the country could be reduced to "a trickle" ahead of Thanksgiving as a result of rising air traffic control staffing problems. Previously, the US government ordered airlines to cut 4 percent of domestic flights at 40 major US airports due to staffing shortages. That number is set to rise to 10 percent this Friday if the shutdown doesn't end, said CNBC.

Lü said that the intractable partisan divide has left little room for compromise. "Historically, the dominant party tended to show some tolerance to achieve reasonable concessions," he said. "But now, both sides seem determined to destroy each other politically — even creating obstacles where none exist. That's what has made this the longest government shutdown in American history."