WASHINGTON — The Alabama Legislature’s Republican leaders are pushing the U.S. Senate to avert a potentially “devastating” government shutdown, set to start Wednesday.
In a letter to Senate Republican and Democratic leadership, exclusively obtained by Alabama Daily News, GOP state lawmakers on Friday urgently called for the U.S. Senate to pass the GOP-led seven-week stopgap funding bill that keeps spending levels flat.
“The bottom line is that Alabama – like every other state — relies heavily on federal funding to serve its citizens, and these are not chips Congress should be bargaining with,” the letter reads.
Signees include Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, and Sens. Greg Albritton, R-Range, and Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.
Government funding runs out at 12:01am Wednesday night.
Gov. Kay Ivey also joined other Republican governors in a letter to the Senate urging them to immediately pass the short-term continuing resolution.
But Republicans and Democrats are still far apart on reaching a government funding deal, even after leadership emerged from a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Monday afternoon, a day before the shutdown deadline. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there are “very large differences” between the two sides on health care and rescissions after the White House meeting.
“I think for the first time, the president heard our objections and heard why we needed a bipartisan bill,” Schumer told reporters. “Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input.”
On Tuesday, the Senate plans to vote again on the House-passed “clean” short-term funding bill while negotiations on a full-year spending bill continue. Senate Democrats previously rejected that plan in a vote that failed to reach the 60-vote threshold on Sept. 19 before the lawmakers left for a weeklong recess. Democrats insist any funding deal needs to include their health care priorities, the biggest one being the extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium subsidies.
Republicans remain adamant that a continuing resolution is not the right forum for addressing the expiring tax credits and have no interest in budging on Democrats’ demands.
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President JD Vance said after the White House meeting. “I hope they change their mind, but we’re going to see.”
Vice President JD Vance talks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington, as House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., listen. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Shutdown impacts in Alabama
If the government shuts down, in Alabama, the most immediate effect will be for the state’s approximately 41,000 federal civilian workers and more than 8,000 active duty service members, who will not get paid. Some employees deemed “excepted” are required to continue to show up to work without pay during a shutdown, such as TSA agents and federal law enforcement officers. The federal workers will receive back pay.
“We probably (will) see some issues at Redstone Arsenal, NASA as well,” John Dove, an economics professor at Troy University, told Alabama Daily News. “Many of those civilian contractors there may end up furloughed. Some other snags along the way have to do with the Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture (and) Federal Housing Association when it comes to processing loans.”
Meanwhile, the White House budget office is threatening to implement a reduction in force if the government shuts down. A memo sent last week to federal agencies could pave the way for more federal worker firings after the Department of Government Efficiency cuts earlier this year.
The broader economic impact in Alabama is dependent on how long a shutdown could last, Dove said. With a longer shutdown, federal workers and contractors could spend less at local businesses, bruising local economies, especially in areas with large numbers of federal workers, such as Huntsville.
Medicaid, Medicare will continue
Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries will still receive benefits throughout a government shutdown as the programs are considered mandatory spending. The same is true for Social Security and veterans’ benefits payments. However, there could be some disruptions in the programs if staff who oversee the programs are furloughed.
White House officials have also told news outlets that funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children could run out starting Oct. 1. Around 111,000 Alabamians were enrolled in WIC per month in fiscal year 2023.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits could also be in jeopardy during a prolonged shutdown, as continuing resolutions typically allow the USDA to send out benefits for 30 days after the beginning of a shutdown before they lapse, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., both posted on social media Monday, blaming the impending shutdown on Democrats.
“A Schumer Shutdown helps no one, especially our veterans and seniors who rely on critical services,” Britt said in an X post. “Democrats are playing politics with American lives.”
Tuberville put it bluntly in a post, saying, “if the government shuts down, it will be the DEMOCRATS’ FAULT.”
While Senate Democrats argue that the looming shutdown is in Trump’s hands.
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