Senate Votes Down Rival Funding Bills, Raising Shutdown Risk for October 1

The Senate dismissed rival proposals on Friday intended to keep federal operations running temporarily once the new fiscal year starts on October 1, raising the likelihood of a partial government shutdown on that day.

Both parties’ leaders blamed one another for the deadlock. Democrats accused Republicans of failing to cooperate to incorporate their health care priorities into the funding bill, despite knowing Democratic support was crucial for passing the legislation to the president.

Conversely, Republicans argued that Democrats were pushing for spending hikes unconnected to the immediate goal of maintaining agency operations while discussions on a comprehensive spending bill proceeded.

“The Republican proposal is a straightforward, nonpartisan short-term continuing resolution to provide us the opportunity for a complete appropriations process. Meanwhile, the Democrat proposal is quite the opposite,” stated Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., ahead of the voting. “It’s what you could call, not a clean CR, a contaminated CR – overflowing with partisan agendas appealing to the Democrats’ left-wing support.”

Under the Democratic plan, enhancements to health insurance subsidies due to end this year would be prolonged, and Medicaid cuts included in Republicans’ prior tax and spending reduction package would be reversed.

“The American people will assess Republicans’ actions, compare them with Democrats’, and it will become evident that public opinion favors us,” declared Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has consistently warned of a shutdown if health care issues go unaddressed.

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.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said he knew he had few votes to spare as he sought to persuade fellow Republicans to vote for the funding patch, something many in his conference have routinely opposed in past budget fights. But this time, GOP members see a chance to portray the Democrats as responsible for a shutdown.

“The ball is in Chuck Schumer’s court. I hope he does the right thing. I hope he does not choose to shut the government down and inflict pain on the American people,” Johnson said.

President Donald Trump had urged House Republicans to pass the bill and put the burden on Democrats to oppose it. GOP leaders often need Trump’s help to win over holdouts on legislation.

“Every House Republican should UNIFY, and VOTE YES!” Trump said on his social media site.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said that in opposing the continuing resolution, Democrats were working to protect the health care of the American people. He said that with Republicans controlling the White House and both branches of Congress, “Republicans will own a government shutdown. Period. Full stop.”

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 then 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.

Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are watching Schumer closely after his last-minute decision in March to vote with Republicans to keep the government open. Schumer argued then that a shutdown would be damaging and would give Trump and his White House freedom to make more government cuts. Many on the left revolted, with some advocates calling for his resignation.

The vote in the spring also caused a temporary schism with Jeffries, who opposed that particular GOP spending bill and said he would not be “complicit” with Schumer’s vote.

The two Democratic leaders now say they are united, and Schumer says things have changed since March. The public is more wary of Trump and Republicans, Schumer says, after the passage of Medicaid cuts.

Most Democrats appear to be backing Schumer’s demand that there be negotiations on the bill – and support his threats of a shutdown, even as it is unclear how they would get out of it.

“Look, the president said really boldly, don’t even talk to Democrats. Unless he’s forgotten that you need a supermajority to pass a budget in the Senate, that’s obviously his signal he wants a shutdown,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

While the Democratic measure to fund the government had no chance of passage, it does give Democrats a way to show voters their focus on cutting health care costs. Unless Congress act, tax credits going to low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act will expire. That will mean a big increase in premiums for millions of Americans.

“There are some thing we have to address. The health insurance, ACA, is going to hammer millions of people in the country, including in red states,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. “To me, that can’t be put off.”

Republicans have said the tax credit issue can be dealt with later this year. They’re also using Schumer’s previous arguments against shutdowns to make the case he’s playing politics.

“Democrats voted in favor of clean CRs no fewer than 13 times during the Biden administration,” Thune said. “Yet now that Republicans are offering a clean CR, it’s somehow a no-go. It’s funny how that happens.”

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.