Senate Democrats refused to end the government shutdown Wednesday, blocking a House-passed stopgap spending bill for the second time in fewer than 24 hours — as federal agencies prepare to start laying off as many as 750,000 employees daily.
Senate Democrats refused to end the government shutdown Wednesday, blocking a House-passed stopgap spending bill for the second time in fewer than 24 hours — as federal agencies prepare to start laying off as many as 750,000 employees daily.
The Senate voted 55-45 to end debate on the continuing resolution — five votes short of the 60 needed to clear the legislative filibuster — with Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, as well as independent Angus King of Maine voting “yea.”
All but one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted for the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats had objected to the so-called “clean” continuing resolution because it failed to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.
Republicans leaders in Congress have maintained that the subsidies can be considered separately, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-La.) calling for Dems to join their bill and fund the government at current levels until Nov. 21.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Johnson noted that “nearly half of our civilian workforce” is being “sent home” amid the shutdown.
“Our troops and our Border Patrol agents will have to go to work, but they’ll be working without pay. Food assistance, veterans’ benefits, and vital support for women and children are all coming to a halt,” the speaker added.
“Our simple, clean, 24-page bipartisan continued resolution, the same one that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats voted for just a few months back in March … they rejected it, and they demanded something else,” he said of Democrats’ alternative bill text. “They wanted us to add over $1.5 trillion in new federal spending, paid for of course, by hardworking American taxpayers, simply for funding the government at current Biden spending levels.”
As many as 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed each day, according to estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office — and those furloughs could soon become permanent firings.
