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In today's issue:

▪ Shutdown pain to affect more Americans

▪ Trump set for meeting with Xi

▪ AOC’s stock tied to Mamdani

▪ Hurricane Melissa batters Caribbean

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The effects of the nearly monthlong government shutdown are about to be felt outside Washington, D.C., as dwindling funds impact tens of millions of people.

The funding lapse certainly has had some notable consequences for many people since it began at the start of the month.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or required to continue working without pay. Some of them have even faced the risk of losing their jobs entirely as President Trump's administration has sought to use the shutdown to ramp up federal layoffs. (A federal judge blocked Trump's efforts to lay off thousands amid the shutdown on Tuesday; a battle over the legality of the president’s move continues.)

Delays have grown at airports as shortages among air traffic controllers are felt, while national parks and Smithsonian Institution museums have been closed.

But The Hill’s Mike Lillis reports millions more Americans are about to be impacted directly if a deal to reopen the government isn’t reached by the end of the week.

"The D-Day moment, which hits this weekend, is poised to wallop groups as varied as military troops, patients on ObamaCare, kids in Head Start, and low-income families on food stamps," Lillis writes.

The low-income families who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may be the hardest hit, as they’re currently set to not receive their November benefits on Saturday. The benefits for October were distributed ahead of the shutdown, but no additional money has been allocated for November.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has emergency funds for SNAP, but it reversed its position last week by saying that they are intended for situations like natural disasters and not the current shutdown.

Democrats have argued that withholding the funds is illegal, but the department doesn’t seem poised to distribute them to states to continue funding SNAP. That could result in 40 million Americans losing that source of income to cover their grocery costs.

Meanwhile, the open enrollment window for Americans to choose their insurance plans next year through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also opens on Saturday, and it may be too late to shield the public from the sticker shock of higher prices.

The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports how the debate over expiring ACA subsidies, which Democrats have made a central point of their shutdown argument, has put Republicans on the defensive over health care. While the party is united in criticizing the law, no clear plan to address rising premiums if the subsidies expire has been publicly presented.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said Republicans are working on an alternative health care plan, but Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called him out Tuesday for not providing details about it.

“Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” Greene wrote on social platform X, referring to secure areas where classified government material is reviewed.

The military’s 1.3 million service members are also looking at the first of the month for their next paycheck. Vice President Vance told reporters that military members will be paid, as Pentagon officials have identified $8 billion in unspent research, development and tech funds to pay the troops.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the Pentagon has enough unobligated funding to pay troops through October, but funding will run out by the time they’re supposed to be paid on Nov. 15.

▪ Axios: “Fresh Republican shutdown divisions erupt in private call.”

The way out? The way out of the shutdown as it completes its fourth full week is still unclear.

The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports how the White House isn’t in a rush to negotiate a deal to end it, as Trump and his top aides feel Democrats don’t have a good way out.

“If you’re the White House, there is zero benefit to bending. Zero. It doesn’t make sense for him ever to get involved in this situation,” said one source close to Trump World.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are resisting pressure from the country’s largest federal workers union, which called for Congress to immediately pass a “clean” continuing resolution to reopen the government.

It shows how outside pressure has so far failed to get the parties to budge from their positions on the shutdown.

A least one measure in the interim is showing signs of hope, however, as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) offered Democrats a proposal to pay all federal workers, including those deemed essential and those furloughed, while the shutdown continues. This is a variation of what Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) proposed last week with widespread Democratic support.

Senate Republicans discussed Johnson's proposal at a luncheon on Tuesday.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Senate Democrats are taking a close look at the proposal as they seek to ease the impact of the four-week shutdown on federal workers. But Democrats have a hard decision to make, as Johnson’s offer wouldn’t restrict Trump’s ability to carry out layoffs during the shutdown.

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