The Senate rejected competing measures on Friday to fund federal agencies for a few weeks when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, increasing prospects for a partial government shutdown on that date. Leaders of the two parties sought to blame the other side for the standoff, reports the AP:
- Democrats accused Republicans of not negotiating with them to address some of their priorities on health care as part of the funding measure, even though they knew some Democratic votes would be needed to get a bill to the president's desk.
- Republicans said Democrats were making demands that would dramatically increase spending and were not germane to the core issue of keeping agencies fully running for a short period of time while negotiations continued on a full-year spending measure.
"The Republican bill is a clean, nonpartisan, short-term continuing resolution to fund the government to give us time to do the full appropriations process. And the Democrat bill is the exact opposite," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said shortly before the votes. "It's what you might call, not a clean CR, a dirty CR—laden down with partisan policies and appeals to Democrats' leftist base." The AP reports the Democratic proposal would extend enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus reverse Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans' big tax breaks and spending cuts bill enacted earlier this year.
The Senate action came after the House earlier in the day passed the Republican-led funding bill. The measure would extend government funding generally at current levels for seven weeks. The bill would also add about $88 million in security funding for lawmakers and members of the Supreme Court and executive branch in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The vote was 217-212. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the lone Democratic member to support the bill.
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The Senate moved quickly after the House vote to take up the measure plus the Democratic counter. Both fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage. Now, it's unclear how things will shake out. Senators could potentially leave town until Sept. 29—one day before the shutdown deadline. The Senate has a scheduled recess next week because of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Meanwhile, Johnson said Republicans were discussing whether to stay back in their home districts through the rest of September, essentially forcing the Senate to approve the House-passed measure or risk a shutdown. He said lawmakers have a lot of work to do in their districts.
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