A control tower by an American Airlines hangar is shown at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Oct. 15. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats remained at a stalemate on the government shutdown over the weekend as it headed into its sixth week, with food aid potentially delayed or suspended for millions of Americans and President Donald Trump pushing GOP leaders to change Senate rules to end it.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday that Trump has spoken to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as he has publicly and repeatedly pushed for an end to the Senate filibuster. But Republicans have strongly rejected Trump’s calls since his first term, arguing that the rule requiring 60 votes to overcome any objections in the Senate is vital to the institution and has allowed them to stop Democratic policies when they are in the minority.

Leavitt said Sunday that the Democrats are “crazed people” who haven’t shown any signs of budging.

“That’s why President Trump has said Republicans need to get tough, they need to get smart, and they need to use this option to get rid of the filibuster, to reopen the government and do right by the American public,” Leavitt said on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News.

Democrats have voted thirteen times against reopening the government, denying Republicans the votes in the 53-47 Senate as they insist on negotiations to extend government health care subsidies that will be cut off at the end of the year. Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.

With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 33rd day, appears likely become the longest in history. The previous record was set in 2019, when Trump demanded that Congress give him money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Decisive week

Trump’s push on the filibuster could prove a distraction for Thune and Republican senators who have opted instead to stay the course as the consequences of the shutdown have become more acute, including more missed paychecks for air traffic controllers and other government workers and uncertainty over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Republicans are hoping that at least some Democrats will eventually give them the votes they need as they hold repeated votes on a bill to reopen the government. Democrats have held together so far, but some moderates have been in talks with rank-and-file Republicans about potential compromises that could guarantee votes on health care in exchange for reopening the government. Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass their bill.

“We need five with a backbone to say we care more about the lives of the American people than about gaining some political leverage,” Thune said on the Senate floor as the Senate left Washington for the weekend on Thursday.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that there is a group of people talking about “a path to fix the health care debacle” and a commitment from Republicans not to fire more federal workers. But it’s still unclear if those talks could produce a meaningful compromise.

The coming week could also be crucial for Democrats as the open enrollment period for health care marketplaces governed by the Affordable Care Act opened Nov. 1 and people are already starting to see spikes in premium costs for the next year, meaning it may be too late to make immediate changes. Democrats are also watching the results of gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday.