The government shutdown entered its second week on Monday as a solution to Washington’s gridlock over the federal budget continues to elude lawmakers.
The Senate is set to vote on a “clean” continuing resolution, or CR, on Monday evening that would keep the government funded at its current levels until late November. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) will need to pick up five Democratic votes to pass the measure. That means the stopgap spending bill will likely not advance, as only three lawmakers in the Democratic caucus have crossed the aisle, with no others announcing plans to join Republicans over the weekend.
On the House side, Republicans have refused to budge on hashing out another deal viewed more favorably by Democrats. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has argued Democrats have backed similar “clean” CRs keeping the government open over a dozen times in recent years. Johnson has argued that concerns that the latest measure doesn’t contain provisions extending Obamacare subsidies, which have led Democrats to block the CR, are nothing more than a political ploy designed to appease fringe elements in the party opposed to President Donald Trump’s GOP.
Johnson sent his conference home in an attempt to push Democrats to the table, saying the chamber had already done its job when it passed the funding bill and sent it to the Senate on Sept. 19. Members are on a “district work period” in their home states until Oct. 13. They are scheduled to return to Washington on Oct. 14.
Johnson and Thune have signaled a willingness to negotiate extending the Obamacare provisions — but only after Democrats get behind the CR and open the government. They couldn’t guarantee any specifics about what a deal on the provisions would look like, increasing Democrats’ skepticism.
In the Senate, Thune hopes more Democrats will cave to the pressure and join Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Angus King (I-ME) in backing the measure. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are under particular scrutiny.
Polls indicate voters cast slightly more blame on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, than Democrats for the shutdown. A new CBS poll showed 28% of Democratic voters believe that lawmakers standing by their positions is worth the shutdown, compared to just 23% of Republicans. Still, Democrats aren’t perceived as blameless, with the party being described by 64% of respondents as “weak.” In comparison, 40% of voters used the word to describe the Republican Party.
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House Democrats plan to hold a virtual meeting Monday evening to address the matter, as they continue to hold fast against Republicans’ hopes of passing the CR. There has been little communication between leaders of the two parties, according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). He said on Sunday during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press that the last time he spoke with Republican leaders was in a White House meeting with Trump in late September.
As the stalemate continues, government workers hope it will be resolved by Oct. 15, the day active-duty military members may miss their first check. Most federal workers will miss their first paycheck on Friday if the shutdown isn’t resolved.