Senate Democrats block GOP bid to end government shutdown before weekend

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government again, all but guaranteeing that the government shutdown rolls through the weekend.

After a day off to observe Yom Kippur, lawmakers made little progress in finding an off-ramp to end the shutdown, which entered its third day on Friday. And as the government remains closed, both sides appear to be digging further into their positions.

Senate Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government failed on a largely party-line 54-44 vote for a fourth time, with the same trio of Senate Democratic caucus members — Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine — joining most Republicans in backing the bill.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to bring the bill to the floor again and again in a bid to chip away at Democrats’ largely unified front. He lamented the work that could be happening, like advancing spending bills and negotiating other bipartisan priorities, on the Senate floor rather than repeating the same exercise of trying to reopen the government. 

“They have taken hostage the federal government and, by extension, the American people, who are the only losers in this,” Thune said. “Everybody’s talking about who wins and who loses and who gets the blame. That’s not what this is about. This is about doing what’s in the best interest of the American people. And what’s in the best interest of the American people is keeping the government open and operating so it can continue to work on their behalf.” 

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demand that they get a seat at the table to negotiate a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR).

Their main rallying cry has been pushing for an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits, which Senate Republicans have said they would consider only after the government is reopened. While the credits don’t expire until the end of the year, Democrats argue that if Congress doesn’t act now, people who use Obamacare will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket.

“We know Americans want this, and we know many of my Republican colleagues want this as well,” Schumer said. “But failure to act would be devastating. And Republicans know it. Even Donald Trump knows it. He talked about it a little bit with us in the White House.”

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When asked if the pressure would mount to a point where Democrats cave, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital, “We’re on the right side of history right now.”

Republicans largely agree it is an issue that should be dealt with, but they also want reforms in the program rather than the blanket, permanent extension that Democrats suggested in their counter-proposal.

Some Democrats also view the shutdown as a way to stand up to President Donald Trump.

“The truth is, we shut down the government because Republicans wouldn’t negotiate, because Donald Trump wants to shut down,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “He’s just bragging in the Oval Office about how good a shutdown will be for him. And we’re going to talk about the consequences of Republicans continuing to push these giant healthcare increases on people and the consequences of a lawless president.”

The administration is not resting on its laurels, either, and has targeted funding in blue cities and states, along with threats of mass firings beyond the typical furloughs of nonessential federal employees to get congressional Democrats to blink.

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Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced Friday that $2.8 billion in Chicago infrastructure project funding would be put on hold to prevent “race-based contracting,” a move that came on the heels of $18 billion in infrastructure money in New York City and $8 billion in “Green New Scam” funding from going to 16 blue states being withheld earlier this week.

Thune argued that the administration is what Democrats “have wrought” by continuing to withhold their votes. 

“They are allowing the administration to do the very thing that, back in March, they said they didn’t want to give them the authority to do,” he said. “And that’s to make decisions just like that. But that’s what’s going to happen.” 

Meanwhile, bipartisan talks are brewing in the background, though no real deal nor compromise has materialized.

There have been suggestions of extending the credits for another year after the government is reopened or doing a shorter CR to match up with the beginning of open enrollment on Nov. 1. But Republicans engaged in talks are more keen to keep the government open until at least Nov. 21 to allow appropriators to finish their work on spending bills.

“Nobody’s married to any of this, but we’ve got to get the 45 days in effect first,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said.