Senate Democrats’ counteroffer to congressional Republicans’ short-term government funding extension was blocked by the GOP on Friday.
The bill, which is very different from the House’s version that passed earlier in the day, included several Democratic priorities that they say are necessary to keep the government open. However, Senate Republicans said the provisions went too far.
The Democrats’ bill, unveiled late Wednesday night, failed 47-45 along party lines. The GOP’s continuing resolution (CR) will be voted on next, but its outcome is uncertain since Democrats have promised to oppose it.
The deadline to pass a government funding extension, called a continuing resolution (CR), is Sept. 30. Lawmakers are expected to leave Washington, D.C., Friday night for a weeklong recess to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
House Republicans released their CR on Tuesday and have called it a “clean” funding extension through Nov. 21. While it doesn’t include partisan policy riders, it does provide tens of millions of dollars to increase security for lawmakers.
Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced their own CR. They said their plan was not because they disliked Republicans’ bill, but because it left out important priorities. They also opposed President Donald Trump’s demand that Democrats be excluded from the process.
Their plan would have kept the government open until Oct. 31, permanently extended expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, reversed Medicaid cuts, and restored funding for NPR and PBS.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., criticized the bill, saying it included policies that Democrats supported when they controlled the Senate under former President Joe Biden.
“It’s not clean – it’s filthy,” Thune said. “It’s packed full of partisan policies and measures designed to appeal to Democrats’ leftist base.”
Schumer, however, accused Thune of not negotiating directly with him to prevent a government shutdown.
Democrats are especially focused on securing a deal for the expiring Obamacare subsidies and want some guarantees on future spending decisions.
“We’ll sit down and negotiate, if they will sit down and negotiate,” Schumer said. “We don’t have a red line, but we know we have to help the American people.”
