Senate GOP looks to peel of support from Dems with repeat votes on failed funding measure
The Senate will reconvene Wednesday morning and is expected to again vote on measures to keep the government funded, as GOP leaders aim to peel off Democratic support for a House-passed bill to fund the government until Nov. 21
The Senate first voted on the measure on Sept. 19, when all but one Democrat opposed the continuing resolution, while supporting a competing proposal. Then, with hours to fund the government on Tuesday night, the measure again fell short, though Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, joined Democratic Sen. John Fetterman to support the Republican-led measure.
Republicans have 53 seats in the Senate, a majority. But most legislation requires 60 votes to advance, making support from Democrats necessary to fund the government.
With additional opportunities to vote on the measure this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, called on Democrats to break with their party to support the GOP bill. He indicated late Tuesday that “some conversations” were happening with “some Democrats” who are “very unhappy with the situation that they’re in,” He pointed to the Democrats who voted in favor of the GOP bill Tuesday, saying, “tonight was evidence that there was some movement there.”
Senate GOP leaders are expected to continue to offer the measure to fund the government in the days ahead, though the Senate is expected to observe the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, on Thursday.
Why is the government shut down? Here’s what’s behind the funding lapse
The federal government began shutting down at 12 a.m. on Wednesday after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to extend government funding.
Republicans and Democrats have been at odds over how to fund the government as Democrats have pushed for negotiations over health care tax credits to be included in a funding measure. Without an extension or approval of another funding bill, spending authority expired, sending the federal government into a shutdown.
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