Government Shutdown To Extend Through the Weekend as Senate Democrats Block Funding Bill

The government shutdown will extend at least through the weekend as Republicans failed to win enough Democratic votes to pass a funding bill.On Friday, a House-passed bill to fund the government through November 21 received 54 votes in the Senate, falling short of the 60-vote threshold.Three Democratic senators — Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, and Angus King — voted for the proposal. Meanwhile, one Republican senator, Rand Paul, voted against it.The result was not entirely unexpected, as both parties appeared to be dug in on their positions ahead of the vote. Democrats want Congress to pass a funding bill to extend health care premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans argue that lawmakers should pass a bill to fund the government and then negotiate the health care subsidies. During a press conference ahead of the vote, Speaker Mike Johnson said, “[Democrats’ opposition] has nothing to do with health care. The subsidies that they are saying is the issue is not the issue.”“That is an issue for the end of the year. December 31 is when that expires, so Congress has three months to negotiate that,” he said.Republicans also say Democrats want to repeal portions of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that enhanced eligibility requirements for Medicaid to ensure that illegal immigrants were not able to receive coverage. While the government remains closed, Mr. Johnson said Mr. Trump and the White House budget director, Russ Vought, have the “unenviable” job of “triag[ing]” federal spending and deciding “which things are deemed essential and which are nonessential.”Although Mr. Johnson has said the president has an “unenviable” task, Mr. Trump has been taunting Democrats about the cuts. On Thursday night, he said he would be meeting with Mr. Vought to decide which “Democrat Agencies” will be “cut” and “whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly,” Mr. Trump said. Hours later, he posted a parody video set to Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” The lyrics state that Mr. Vaught “is the reaper. He wields the pen, the funds, and the brain.”Despite the trolling, Mr. Johnson said that Messrs. Vought and Trump take “no pleasure” in the cuts. But, the House speaker said the White House is “having fun” with “pointing out the absurdity of the Democrats’ position.” The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was also asked about the president’s trolling campaign and whether the White House sees the shutdown as an “opportunity” or an “unfortunate” situation.“Look, the president likes to have a little fun every now and then, and I think both things can be true at the same time. The Democrats have given the administration this opportunity, and we don’t like laying people off. Nobody takes joy in that around here,” Ms. Leavitt said during a press conference.The House is slated to be out next week for a “district work period,” which means the government shutdown may last through at least October 13 unless the Senate approves the bill already passed by the lower chamber.

Government Shutdown To Extend Through the Weekend as Senate Democrats Block Funding Bill

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