Senators leave Washington without reaching an agreement on the shutdown
Senators left Washington without reaching an agreement to end the government shutdown, ensuring it will continue into next week as the impasse between the two sides continues.
The Senate finished its work this week late Thursday night when it passed the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included more than a dozen votes to amend.
They will return to work on Tuesday. They will be off Monday due to a federal holiday.
The decision means the government shutdown will not only reach the two-week mark come Tuesday, but military members will likely lose their first paycheck as part of the shutdown.
Earlier in the day, Senate Democrats blocked the GOP’s “clean” continuing resolution for the seventh time. The bill will fund the government until late November.
The same three senators — Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.), and Sen. Angus King (Maine) — all voted Republican, as they did for nearly two weeks.
The two sides remain stuck in a bitter stalemate, with neither willing to give up an inch. Democrats have called relentlessly for any deal to include an extension of enhanced health care subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Republicans have insisted that “clean” tax breaks are their only offer, repeatedly pointing out that Democrats have voted for one more than a dozen times in recent years, and that any additional debate about tax breaks can only happen after the government reopens.
The two sides have become increasingly cohesive after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N.Y.) declared in an interview that Democrats are winning the political battle.
“Every day gets better for us,” he told Punchbowl News.
The comment sparked countless ridicule from Republican senators.
“Who is ‘we’?” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) asked during his speech. “It’s not better for the American people…nor the military who don’t get paid. Nor the Border Patrol who don’t get paid. Nor the air traffic controllers who don’t get paid.”
“He’s playing a game,” Barrasso added.
