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Senate rejects Democratic resolution to keep government funded
The Senate has rejected a stopgap funding bill, drawn up by congressional Democrats, that would keep the government funded until the end of October. Fifty-three Republicans voted against the resolution, while 47 Democrats voted for it.
This version of a shortterm funding patch also included several healthcare provisions – including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
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Speaking on the floor now is the Kansas Republican senator Jerry Moran.
“We can’t pass a continuing resolution because there are those who want to bring other issues into the bill,” he says of the Democratic lawmakers who have blocked the continuing resolution.
In a statement expanding on her decision to vote for the GOP short-term funding bill, Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democratic senator, said: “We need a bipartisan solution to address the impending healthcare crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another.”
Notably, Cortez Masto voted joined several Senate Democrats in March to pass a continuing resolution and avert a government shutdown, much to the ire of several progressive lawmakers.
Senate fails to pass a stopgap funding bill, as government careens towards a midnight shutdown
The US Senate has rejected a bill, passed by the House, to keep the government funded beyond midnight.
Lawmakers voted 55-45 on a resolution that would keep current levels of funding until 21 November. It ultimately failed to reach the 60 votes needed.
Another Democratic senator to vote “yes” on the Republican short-term funding bill is Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
Meanwhile, Angus King, an independent senator from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted for the resolution.
Democratic senator John Fetterman broke ranks with his party and just voted for the Republican-written funding extension.
This is in line with his vote earlier in the month.
Chris Stein
on Capitol Hill
Republican senator Ted Cruz described Democrats’s shutdown threat as a “temper tantrum” that would ultimately go nowhere.
“They’re trying to show… that they hate Trump,” he told reporters. “It will end inevitably in capitulation. At some point they’re going to turn the lights on again, but first they have to rage into the night.”
The Texas senator knows of which he speaks. He played a major role in leading a 2013 shutdown aimed at defunding the Affordable Care Act, which - as government shutdowns tend to - did not succeed.
Senate majority leader, John Thune, has introduced votes on the GOP-written continuing resolution, which would keep the government funded until 21 November.
“All indications are the Democrats are going to reject the clean, nonpartisan funding extension here before us and choose to shut the government down,” the Republican senator said. “Democrat leaders may be determined to take government funding hostage for their own partisan purposes. You don’t have to join them.”
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, just cited a new Morning Consult poll, joking that he “doesn’t always believe the New York Times”.
“Seventy-five percent of Americans support extending the tax premium credit. 63% of Republicans support it, and 45% of voters say they’ll blame Republicans in Congress for a government shutdown,” Schumer said.
Senate rejects Democratic resolution to keep government funded
The Senate has rejected a stopgap funding bill, drawn up by congressional Democrats, that would keep the government funded until the end of October. Fifty-three Republicans voted against the resolution, while 47 Democrats voted for it.
This version of a shortterm funding patch also included several healthcare provisions – including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
Chris Stein
on Capitol Hill
Jeanne Shaheen, the Democratic senator representing purple state New Hampshire, told reporters at the Capitol that she agreed with Democratic leaders’ insistence that compromising on government funding is up to the GOP.
“I think we need to get a resolution, and I think it’s doable, and I think that what’s been lacking has been a commitment from the president, who’s in charge of all three branches of government, and he doesn’t seem to be interested,” she said.
Asked if Democrats chose wisely by centering the government funding fight on healthcare, she said: “I think there are a number of fights we should be having.”
Shaheen is not running for re-election next year, leaving open a competitive Senate seat that Democrats will have to defend.
According to CNN and Punchbowl News, the Senate will continue votes on Wednesday, 1 October, before breaking for Yom Kippur. Lawmakers will also return on Friday, 3 October and Saturday, 4 October, in the event that Congress fails to pass a resolution today. They cite confirmation from the Senate majority whip, John Barrasso.
Republicans will propose their original bill, which would keep the government funded until 21 November.
Right now, senators are voting on a version of a shortterm funding bill that Democratic lawmakers wrote to counter the original resolution, written by Republicans.
