Senate Democrats, fresh off a weekend of anti-Trump rallies, again blocked the Republicans’ plan to reopen the government for an 11th time as the shutdown nears its fourth week.
Senate Republicans had hoped their colleagues across the aisle would have a change of heart after the ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country, but like many times before, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., largely voted to block the funding bill.
Neither side has changed its position as the shutdown has continued to drag on.
Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced when Senate Democrats controlled the upper chamber under President Joe Biden and are set to expire by the end of this year.
Schumer accused congressional Republicans of being unwilling to solve the problem, despite overtures from Senate Republicans that they’d be open to have a vote on the matter.
‘What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem, which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other,’ Schumer said. ‘And yet Republicans, what are they doing about it? Nothing. They’re on vacation. It’s unacceptable and morally repugnant.’
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., contended over the weekend at the ‘No Kings’ rally in Washington, D.C., that when Democrats were in charge, the government never shut down.
‘The government is shut down and shutdowns are painful,’ he said. ‘They hurt people. And frankly, that’s why there was not a single government shutdown when Joe Biden was president and Democrats were in charge of Congress. Because we acted like adults, we negotiated with Republicans. We found common ground. We kept the government open.’
But Senate Republicans have remained adamant that they won’t negotiate while the government is shut down. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., extended an olive branch to Senate Democrats and offered a vote on the expiring subsidies, but so far, Senate Democrats have not agreed.
Republicans are also trying to fund the government through other means. Thune tried and failed to advance the annual defense appropriations bill through a procedural hurdle last week, which Senate Democrats blocked. Republicans are also trying to finish work on a trio of funding bills passed in August, but Senate Democrats are blocking that, too.
‘Any idea that this is about Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits is going by the wayside when they continue to keep the government shut down and don’t allow us time to actually work on the issue,’ Thune said. ‘I don’t think they want a solution. I think they want a political issue.’
Another issue is that even if lawmakers were to pass the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday, Congress would only have one month to finish work on spending bills to fund the government. When asked if the it was time to think about the House coming back to extend the deadline, Thune said, ‘For sure.’
‘I mean, every day that passes, we have less time to fund the government,’ he said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers will get the chance to pay certain federal workers and the military later in the week.
Thune said that he planned to tee up legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans that would pay military service members and certain ‘excepted’ federal workers who are still working despite the ongoing shutdown. That bill could be ready for a vote by Thursday at the latest.
When asked if he worried that Senate Democrats would continue to take hostages during the shutdown fight, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said, ‘Hopefully not.’
‘Because at whatever point the Schumer shutdown ends is because the Democrats are finally tired of it, or they hear enough from their constituents,’ he said. ‘Hopefully enough people will tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t want that anymore. You keep government open. Do the job.’’
But for now, there’s no real end in sight for the shutdown.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, contended that neither side would break the impasse given that there’s no ‘incentive’ to do so.
‘What we’re seeing is different,’ Murkowski said. ‘You’ve got both sides that are just really hard dug in, but everybody thinks they’re winning. Nobody is winning when everybody’s losing. And that’s what’s happening right now. The American public is losing.’