Senate Democrats voted for the fourth time Friday to defeat a House-passed bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21 and end the three-day government shutdown that has left tens of thousands of federal employees furloughed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) failed to pick up any additional Democratic votes for the clean, seven-week funding measure, leaving the tally at 54-44. It needed 60 votes to pass.
Three members of the Democratic cauc...
Senate
Democrats seek shutdown leverage with economy over Trump, GOP
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are buckling in for a protracted government shutdown, something that experts say could begin to have a significant impact on the economy and put pressure on President Trump to negotiate a deal with Democrats.
Economic experts say the shutdown won’t have an immediate impact on the economy, but they predict the effect on gross domestic product (GDP) will add up after a few weeks and could become more pronounced because of other economic headwinds, su...
White House’s shutdown layoff threats, funding freezes unnerve some Republicans
The Trump administration’s plans to lay off thousands of federal workers and freeze federal grants during the government shutdown are getting pushback from some congressional Republicans.
The moves would harm projects and constituents in a number of GOP-held districts, and some Republicans worry that using the shutdown as a spending-slashing opportunity could backfire on Republicans as they aim to put the blame for the shutdown squarely on Democrats.
Rep. Mike Law...
White House’s shutdown layoff threats, funding freezes unnerve some Republicans
The Trump administration’s plans to lay off thousands of federal workers and freeze federal grants during the government shutdown are getting pushback from some congressional Republicans.
The moves would harm projects and constituents in a number of GOP-held districts, and some Republicans worry that using the shutdown as a spending-slashing opportunity could backfire on Republicans as they aim to put the blame for the shutdown squarely on Democrats.
Rep. Mike Law...
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez explain their votes on the shutdown
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up to release a Wednesday video explaining why they voted against the House Republican-authored stopgap legislation. Its failure in the Senate led to a government shutdown.
In the clip that shows them taking a walk and talking together in Washington, the lawmakers raised concerns about the lapse in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies as the main reason for their decision to withhold votes ...
Live updates: Johnson, House GOP lay blame on Schumer, push for votes to end shutdown
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team pushed blame for the government shutdown on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a press conference on Thursday morning, while urging the Senate to keep voting to end the two-day-old shutdown.
“The ball is in [Sen.] Chuck Schumer’s hands right now,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said about the New York Democrat.
With at least another day before the Senate votes to potentially end the government sh...
Lawmakers expect shutdown to drag on for at least a week
Senators say they expect the government shutdown to drag out until at least the middle of next week, with some fearing it could go even longer.
The Senate rejected votes to reopen the government on Wednesday, and the chamber will be out of session on Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur.
The Senate will return Friday, but few expect the vote that day on the House GOP measure to fund the government to have a different result.
Two Democratic senators and I...
Moderate Democrats at center of shutdown pressure campaign
Moderate Democrats are at the center of a game of tug-of-war between Republicans and Democratic leadership, as the GOP attempts to peel off the five remaining votes needed to back the party’s “clean” stopgap spending bill and reopen the government.
According to multiple GOP sources, individual Republican lawmakers are engaging with Senate Democrats who they view as flippable in a bid to win them over. Although some members of leadership are involved, this is largely being d...
Washington Post editorial board warns Democrats walking into ‘shutdown trap’
The editorial board of The Washington Post is warning that progressive Democrats are leading the party into a “shutdown trap.”
In an op-ed published Wednesday morning, the board noted that Democrats "shut off any potential escape valve to avoid a shutdown" when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), facing a left-wing revolt, apparently backed off a potential plan to buy more time for negotiations.
“In doing so, progressives embraced the same disastrous me...
Why is there a government shutdown?
(NEXSTAR) – Lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to fund the federal government by midnight on Tuesday night, triggering a shutdown on Wednesday. At the heart of the deadlock are health insurance subsidies.
Here's what to know about the key sticking points in the budget negotiations.
What are the tax credits lawmakers disagree on?At issue are tax credits that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 ...