Journalism of Courage
A Republican bill to fund the government mostly at current levels has failed in the Senate on Wednesday as the US government shutdown continues. This was the second time in as many days a bill to end the government shutdown has failed in the Senate.
Wednesday’s bill fell along a similar vote pattern as Tuesday night, as most Democrats continued to hold out and demand that Congress take up health care benefits.
The measure was defeated in a 55-45 vote on a procedural motion that required 60 votes for approval.
Earlier, a procedural motion to advance the short-term government funding bill offered by Democrats had also failed in the Senate in a 47-53 vote.
The bill, which failed to move forward previously, also required 60 votes to pass. All Democrats voted in favor of the measure and all Republicans voted against it.
A deal to end the first US Government shutdown since 2018 is still a long way off from being struck. Any negotiation requires ironing out details, and crucially, it would require sign-off from House Republican leadership and President Donald Trump.
Following the failed vote on Wednesday, Senators from both sides have said that they are still talking to find a way out.
South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds emerged from a large bipartisan gathering on the Senate floor, saying that “a lot of people would really like to find a path forward.”
“But it requires, first of all, to get the government open again,” said Rounds. “And the proposal on the table is 45 days. And then we start working on the issues that divide us.”
Rounds said that the “most reasonable” way to deal with ACA tax credits is to extend them for one year, “but with an agreement at the same time to get it back to pre-pandemic over the next two years.”
Rounds added that any deal is “not going to happen for a while yet.”
Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, also said, “I’m glad we’re talking.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said he “doesn’t think it’s going to be that long a shutdown.”
He also suggested that moderate Democrats might already be “cracking” and willing to defy their party’s congressional leadership and side with Republicans and vote to reopen the government.
Three Democrat Senators, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Angus S. King Jr. of Maine, voted in support of the GOP bill on Tuesday and Wednesday.
