Government Shuts Down as Schumer Demands Another Meeting With Republicans After Blocking Funding Deal

Senator Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats are demanding more meetings with their Republican colleagues and possibly the president at the start of the first government shutdown in 10 years. The GOP majority, however, insists that no concessions will be made. Democrats successfully blocked a seven-week government funding extension late Tuesday night after lawmakers spent the past 10 days considering their options. Three Democrats voted with Republicans to keep the government open with no guarantees related to health insurance subsidy extensions, which Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have been demanding. One of those Democrats who voted to keep the government open, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, said that while she wants to see the insurance subsidies extended, she did not believe shutting down the government would notch her party any wins. “We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another,” she said in a statement Tuesday night. The president shared photos from his meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer, Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, which took place on Monday. Via Truth SocialShortly after three Democrats broke rank to side with the Republicans, Mr. Schumer held a press conference to insist that Democrats would hold firm and not allow Republicans to fund the government until their demands are met. “I’m concerned about Americans’ healthcare. That’s what we Democrats are concerned about,” Mr. Schumer said when asked if he was concerned about three Democrats not siding with him on the vote. “We feel we’re representing our constituents in the best way possible.”“We need to come to a bipartisan solution that protects America’s healthcare,” the Senate minority leader said. “The American people are demanding it, and are gonna demand it more and more on October 1st, October 2nd — they’re gonna keep demanding that we do something about this.” The majority leader, Senator John Thune, spoke to reporters just after the vote and confirmed that senators would once again be forced to give either a thumbs up or a thumbs down on the spending bill at some point on Wednesday. Multiple Democrats who voted to advance the Republican-authored spending bill in March appeared to be subject to intense lobbying campaigns on the Senate floor during the Tuesday night vote. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were seen at the back of the chamber having an intense discussion with an advocate of blocking the legislation, Senator Patty Murray. Both lawmakers then went on to vote against the bill. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who voted to advance the March funding legislation, was seated with Senator Chris Murphy — another advocate for blocking the bill — for nearly 15 minutes during the vote, as he seemed to be trying to persuade her, until she voted against the legislation. “If Leader Schumer wants to sit down and have a conversation, he knows where I am,” Mr. Thune said Tuesday night. “I see him on the floor. I stand six feet away from him.”He says there will be “additional opportunities” for rank-and-file Senate Democrats to break with Mr. Schumer to re-open the government, though if the bill fails Wednesday, then senators will be brought back through the weekend to keep voting after the Yom Kippur holiday on Thursday. President Trump did not seem too concerned about the whole affair shortly before the shutdown began at the end of the day on Tuesday. On Truth Social, the president shared photos from his meeting with Mr. Schumer and the House minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, which took place on Monday. Mr. Trump was seated behind the Resolute Desk. He had “Trump 2028” hats on display for the Democrats. One photo showed Mr. Trump grinning widely, while others showed Mr. Schumer getting into an argument with Speaker Mike Johnson. The shutdown began at midnight on Wednesday, though the White House has been preparing for weeks. Just after the Senate failed to pass the spending bill, the Office of Management and Budget sent a notice to agencies to prepare for the shutdown plans, including the eventual step of furloughing employees. According to the Congressional Budget Office, about 750,000 federal employees across the government may be temporarily put out of work, costing the government $400 million per day. The polling is not ideal for Democrats, either. According to a New York Times survey that was released Tuesday — one that was shared by Mr. Thune on the Senate floor — only 26 percent of Americans would blame Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress if the government did shut down, while 19 percent would blame congressional Democrats. The poll finds that 33 percent would blame both sides equally, while 21 percent say they don’t know enough about the situation to form an opinion.

Government Shuts Down as Schumer Demands Another Meeting With Republicans After Blocking Funding Deal

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