Senators failed to clear a procedural hurdle for a government funding bill on Thursday, raising the chances of a shutdown and the stakes for direct talks between President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Thirty-six hours ahead of a shutdown that would affect most of the federal government, the Senate voted 45-55 in favor of an initial procedural vote — to limit debate on a motion to simply proceed to the funding package — falling well short of the 60 votes needed.
It was a win for Schumer and Senate Democrats, who are trying to show that they are serious about either reforming the bill funding the Department of Homeland Security or removing it from the broader six-bill spending package.
Schumer has urged Republicans to pass five of the six bills, while keeping negotiations going on policy changes at federal immigration agencies. Some Republicans, feeling pressure after federal officers shot and killed 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, said it would be a good idea to decouple Homeland Security talks from the rest of the funding package. In addition to DHS, the current package would support the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and others.
Trump and Schumer have communicated directly about the prospect of splitting DHS funding from the rest of the package, according to a source familiar with the talks — a notable shift from last year’s shutdown, when the White House stonewalled Democrats in talks.
To some, like Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., it’s a sign of the politics underpinning the issue.
“Even this White House understands public sentiment, that the public in this country is overwhelmingly against ICE being unleashed on the American public,” Warner told MS NOW before the vote, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As with most legislative items over the last year, Senate Republicans have suggested they’ll follow Trump’s lead — if he can work out a deal with Schumer.
“My hope and expectation is that the White House and the Senate Democrats, they work this out and they’ll be able to produce the votes that are necessary to pass,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters before the vote.
Other key Republicans are holding out hope for a deal. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, told MS NOW that she wants “a bipartisan, bicameral solution.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said passing five of the six bills would be a good outcome.
“We should take a win,” Tillis said. “If we’re going to be able to get four or five bills done through regular order, I mean, that’s a great win for Susan Collins. That stuff doesn’t happen around here very often.”
The uneven pace of negotiations throughout this week has almost guaranteed at least a short, partial shutdown for many agencies. With only a day and a half before the deadline, senators would need unanimous agreement in order to hold a passage vote in time. And if senators make any changes to the six-bill package — including splitting off one of the bills — the House would have to approve those changes. House members are on recess and don’t plan to return until Monday, sources have told MS NOW.
Still, senators maintain hope that the talks between Trump and Schumer could yield a deal to end the partial shutdown quickly.
“I think there’s a path forward with — probably not no chance of a shutdown, but a very limited shutdown, just in terms of getting the House back and accepting any modifications that might be made in the six-bill package,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told reporters on Wednesday.
But a number of key hurdles remain.
First, Democrats still have to recruit at least 13 Republicans to join them in voting to strip the DHS funding bill from the package to clear the 60-vote threshold, a high bar they failed to scale on Thursday.
So far, at least five Republicans — Rounds and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Steve Daines of Montana and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia — have publicly said they’d support such an effort. Kennedy, however, insists there are more quietly waiting in the wings.
“It’s a better alternative than shutting down the government,” Daines said Thursday. Then the parties would have to agree on the length for a stopgap bill to keep DHS funded as negotiations continue. Democrats are pushing for a short timespan to keep the pressure on GOP lawmakers. Republicans, meanwhile, want a lengthier measure to allow time for substantive talks. “We’d prefer longer to actually have time to work through this,” a GOP aide told MS NOW. “Short-term doesn’t provide that much runway.” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said the ultimate length will be up to Schumer and Trump. Finally, the toughest lift of all: Democrats and Republicans will have to negotiate a new DHS funding bill palatable to both parties, tackling an issue that has historically been one of the most difficult on which to find a bipartisan consensus. Senate Democrats began that process on Wednesday, formally laying out three demands they must receive in exchange for their vote on DHS funding: End roving patrols and tighten rules about the use of warrants, create a uniform code of conduct for federal agents, and implement a “masks off, body cameras on” policy, as Schumer put it. “This is a moment of truth for the United States of America,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “What ICE is doing outside the law is state-sanctioned thuggery, and it must stop,” he continued. “And Congress has the authority and the moral obligation to act.” Thune insists those policy changes won’t be written into the current, six-bill package. But splitting off DHS funds from the other bills could allow negotiations to continue without threatening a lengthy shutdown for roughly 80% of the federal government. “That’s not going to happen in this bill,” Thune said of the Democrats’ policy proposals. “But there are — I mean, there’s a path to consider some of those things and negotiate that out between Republicans, Democrats, House, Senate and White House.” “But that’s not going to happen in these bills,” he said.
Jack Fitzpatrick covers Congress for MS NOW. He previously reported for Bloomberg Government, Morning Consult and National Journal. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Ali Vitali is MS NOW's senior congressional correspondent and the host of "Way Too Early." She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet." Recommended
