Senators blocked two different attempts to end the government shutdown Thursday, filibustering one plan from President Trump and another from Democrats, leaving all sides to…
Senators blocked two different attempts to end the government shutdown Thursday, filibustering one plan from President Trump and another from Democrats, leaving all sides to wonder whether there’s a path out of the morass.
The dueling votes both fell well short of the 60 votes needed to advance, though Democrats’ plan to reopen the government for a couple weeks did slightly better than Mr. Trump’s proposal for a major immigration deal to be combined with full-year government funding.
The two failures sent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic counterpart Sen. Charles E. Schumer into a huddle to see if they could figure out another solution for a quick end to the shutdown.
Some lawmakers urged a short-term reopening of government to create breathing space for border security negotiations.
Mr. Trump said he would be open to a deal, but there must be at least a symbolic downpayment on his border wall in any short-term bill, too. He suggested wall money could be prorated to the length of a short-term bill.
“We have to have the wall,” he told reporters at the White House.
That was a no-go for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, though.
“That is not a reasonable agreement,” she said.
Soon after, she sent the House home for a three-day weekend, undercutting hopes for a deal by week’s end, though she insisted her lawmakers were able to be recalled if there’s a breakthrough.
Mrs. Pelosi has already led the House in more than 10 votes on bills to fund the government, though none have included the border security Mr. Trump says is critical.
Yet until Thursday, senators had not held any votes during the 34 days of the shutdown, with GOP leaders insisting there was no reason to waste time on proposals the president wouldn’t sign.
