Some Head Starts to close due to shutdown funding lapse: What we know

House speaker Johnson on Govt. shutdown day 31

House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins spokes with reporters Friday morning as the government shutdown stretches past the one-month mark. The press conference also comes as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is set to run out of funds on Saturday. The lapse will affect more than 40 million people. The shutdown also causing major flight delays nationwide.

Head Start programs serving 65,000 children will stop receiving federal funding on Nov. 1 because of the government shutdown, leaving some of them in danger of closing immediately. 

Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, said 140 Head Start programs across 41 states and Puerto Rico will lose funding starting Saturday. Head Start provides education, child care, meals, health screenings and more for the nation’s neediest preschoolers.

Head Starts closing

The backstory:

With new grants on hold, a half-dozen Head Start programs have already missed federal disbursements they were expecting Oct. 1 but have stayed open with fast-dwindling reserves or with help from local governments. 

FILE: Preschoolers on the Head Start Program at North Shore Park. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

The Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program said it has to close nine Head Start centers in early November because of the shutdown, while another Head Start in Wisconsin closed Friday, CBS News reports. 

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"Not all of those agencies will be closing immediately, as they're doing everything they can to keep their doors open, but some will be forced to close," Sheridan told FOX TV Stations. 

Why you should care:

If Head Start centers are forced to close their doors, children are left without care, teachers aren’t getting paid, and parents may have to miss work or school. 

Shutdown latest 

Trump urges Senate GOP to nix filibuster to end shutdown

President Donald Trump is calling on the Senate to scrap the filibuster and reopen the government, breaking with majority Republicans who have long opposed such a move. Associate Professor and Legislative Affairs Program Director at George Washington University Dr. Casey Burgat joins LiveNOW from Fox's Josh Breslow to explain what the Senate filibuster is and how it works in practice.

What's next:

The shutdown reached Day 31 Friday, as Trump pushed Senate Republicans to get rid of the rule that requires 60 votes to overcome objections and gives the minority Democrats a check on GOP power. He posted on social media late Thursday that the Senate should "Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!"

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But Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said he is not considering changing the rules even as he seeks to end the shutdown, arguing that the filibuster is vital to the institution of the Senate and has allowed them to halt Democratic policies when they are in the minority.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also defended the filibuster Friday, while conceding "it’s not my call."

Trump's demand comes as he has declined to engage with Democratic leaders on ways to end the shutdown, on track to becoming the longest in history.

While quiet talks are underway, particularly among bipartisan senators, Trump has not been seriously involved. Democrats refuse to vote to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate an extension to the health care subsidies. The Republicans say they won't negotiate until the government is reopened.