Hopes for a quick end to the Government shutdown faded Friday as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal Government.
On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the Government failed on a 54-44 tally - well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would close for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the Government funding bill that has been passed by House Republicans.
Following the failed vote, senators quickly headed for the exits of the Capitol, expecting no more votes over the weekend and showing few signs of any real progress towards ending the congressional standoff. Instead, both sides dug in for a prolonged shutdown fight that thrusts federal workers into more uncertainty, threatens to ripple into the broader economy and gives the Trump administration an opportunity to reshape the federal Government.
“I don’t know how many times you’re going to give them a chance to vote no,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference Friday. After the vote, he said he was flying home to South Dakota for the weekend, adding, “I’ll be available.” The vote showed hardening lines in the Senate. The same three members of the Democratic Caucus - Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King - who voted for the funding bill previously did so again, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was once again the only Republican opposed.
“They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It ain’t working,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Democrats are demanding that Congress extend healthcare benefits, while Republicans are refusing to commit to anything until the Government is reopened. They are trying to wear Democrats down to vote for a House-passed bill that would reopen the Government temporarily, mostly at current spending levels.
Although Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Senate’s filibuster rules make it necessary for the Government funding legislation to gain support from at least 60 of the 100 senators. That’s given Democrats a rare opportunity to use their 47 Senate seats to hold out in exchange for policy concessions. The party has chosen to rally on the issue of health care, believing it could be key to their path back to power in Washington.
Their primary demand is that Congress extend tax credits that were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic for health care plans offered under marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
