Senate Republicans were prepared to remain in Washington on Thursday pending a potential deal with Democrats to end what’s become the longest-ever government shutdown in history.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said whether they stick to their usual schedule and depart for the weekend later that day would be contingent on Democrats, who face a mounting split in strategy between centrists and progressives, coming to the table with an offer to end the shutdown.
Senate Democrats were set to hold their latest meeting on Thursday afternoon on a potential compromise proposal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, causing the shutdown impasse. A growing number of centrists are prepared to cut a deal while progressives have dug in on their healthcare demands following the party’s success in Tuesday’s elections across the country, creating tensions within the Democratic Caucus.
In another sign of willingness to work through the weekend, Thune scheduled a 5 p.m. vote. The upper chamber typically departs for the weekend early Thursday afternoon. The vote, which is expected to fail, is on a bipartisan measure forced by senators to block President Donald Trump from conducting strikes against Venezuela following a series of strikes on alleged drug boats from the country.
Thune, on what marked day 37 of the record-setting shutdown, said he “can’t guarantee [Democrats] an outcome” but could “guarantee them a process” on a stand-alone vote to extend the Affordable Care Act credits in exchange for reopening the government. It’s an offer the GOP has made for weeks but so far been rebuffed by most Democrats.
“I can’t speak for the House. And, obviously, I can’t guarantee an outcome here. And they know that,” Thune said. “The clear path forward here, with regard to the ACA issue, is they get a vote and we open up the government, and we head down to the White House and sit down with the president and talk about it.”
A stopgap spending bill combined with other bipartisan, full-year appropriations bills for portions of the government is a potential shutdown off-ramp eyed by senators of both parties. In addition to the Obamacare standoff, Democrats are pushing for a reversal of President Donald Trump’s mass, permanent federal layoffs during the shutdown.
Riding high after their election victories and armed with more perceived leverage, progressives have warned their more centrist colleagues not to “cave” or “surrender” to Republicans without healthcare guarantees.
PROGRESSIVES WARN CENTRIST SENATE COLLEAGUES NOT TO ‘CAVE’ ON SHUTDOWN
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is among those whose demands remain unchanged, citing an acknowledgment from Trump that the shutdown may have hurt GOP candidates at the ballot box.
“Donald Trump clearly is feeling pressure to bring this shutdown to an end,” Schumer said. “Meet with Democrats, reopen the government, fix the ACA crisis. That’s the best way to put this crisis behind us.”