Senate Democrats Refuse to Fund Government for 4th Time, Shutdown Set to Continue Through Weekend

The government shutdown is set to continue through the weekend after Senate Democrats yet again refused to provide enough support for a stopgap funding measure.

By a 54 to 44 vote on Friday afternoon, the Senate was unable to advance a continuing resolution that would essentially continue government spending levels set during the administration of former President Joe Biden.

Forty-two Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the continuing resolution. Only two Democrats, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, along with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, supported the measure. Two Senators, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Jerry Moran, R-Kans., did not vote.

Friday’s vote marked the fourth time the continuing resolution to fund the government failed to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster. The repeated votes are part of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s strategy to attempt to make it politically toxic for Democrats to keep the government closed by repeatedly getting them on the record voting against a functioning federal government. Thune, R-S.D., has announced the Senate will be voting yet again on Monday.

But the Senate won’t be alone. The House will return to Washington on Monday after being on recess the past few weeks. Before the break, the House voted through the continuing resolution held up in the Senate.

As it stands, there is no clear end in sight for the shutdown. However, some Senate Democrats are starting to have side conversations with Senate Republicans on how they might come to a deal on the Obamacare subsidies Democrats are demanding in exchange for funding the government. One such Democrat is Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who was one of the original advocates for the subsidies and one of the Democrats who voted to keep the government open in March. 

It appears Shaheen understands that the government will have to reopen before a deal is inked, as a source familiar with the matter told Politico that the New Hampshire Democrat is trying to be realistic about what’s achievable in the coming weeks. 

“I think she’s looking for a path forward,” Thune said of Shaheen. In the coming days, other Democrats might feel pressure to do the same. 

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