The Senate rejected a bill to reopen the government for the eighth time Tuesday
Published by RawNews1st
The Senate rejected a bill to reopen the government for the eighth time Tuesday, ensuring the shutdown will enter its third week with lawmakers nowhere close to finding a resolution.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) voted with Republicans, as they have for nearly two weeks. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who had voted in favor of the resolution every other time it has come to the floor was not present on Tuesday.
Senators voted 49-45 on the GOP’s House-passed continuing resolution, which would fund the government through late November. It needed 60 votes to advance.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was, once again, the lone GOP “no” vote.
The vote comes as the two sides remain at a stalemate, with neither wanting to give any ground.
“I guess Democrats are not going to be satisfied until military families and government workers are lining up at food banks or visiting payday lenders or simply charging necessary items like milk and bread on their credit cards to be repaid late,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the floor before the vote, lambasting a report that Democrats are willing to allow the shutdown to go on for “several more weeks.”
Democrats have repeatedly called for any deal on government funding to include an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.
The GOP, meanwhile, has insisted any talks on those credits can only take place once the government reopens and have publicly pleaded for five additional Democrats to side with them to do so.
That has not happened, though, leading Democrats to argue that the repeated failed votes being held by the majority party should be an impetus for the two sides to hammer out a deal on the subsidies.
“That means, like it or not, the Republican leader needs to work with Democrats in a bipartisan way to reopen the government, just as we did when we passed 13 CR’s [continuing resolutions] when I was majority leader,” Schumer said.
