Senate Republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that could have kept the federal government funded past midnight on Friday, failing to attract the 60 votes they needed and hurtling the nation toward a partial government shutdown.
Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol.
While the clerk held the vote open – Republicans John McCain and Mitch McConnell refrained from voting so nothing could be finalized – a bipartisan group of 15 senators huddled on the Senate floor to discuss a path forward.
Democrats in the Senate had emerged from their mid-evening meeting largely united, and predicting that the funding measure – a modest bill funding the government for only four weeks – would go down to defeat.
Republicans pressed the vote anyway, painting their foes as obstructionists in a classic battle over who would shoulder the blame.
Senate Republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that could have kept the federal government funded past midnight on Friday, failing to attract the 60 votes they needed and hurtling the nation toward a partial government shutdown
Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol. Pictured are Senate Majority and Minority leaders – Mitch McConnell
After dinner, President Donald Trump seemed resigned to presiding over the first shutdown since 2013
President Trump’s latest tweet comes just hours after he attempted to stave off the shutdown when he met with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Friday evening. After the meeting he said he was ‘making progress’ on a deal to prevent the shutdown
Republicans pressed the vote anyway, positioning their foes as obstructionists in a classic battle over who would shoulder the blame, despite evidence showing the contrary. Pictured is Lindsey Graham speaking with reporters in Washington just before the vote
The House of Representatives passed the plan Thursday night, sending it to the Senate for approval.
After dinner, President Donald Trump seemed resigned to presiding over the first shutdown since 2013.
‘Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the dangerous Southern Border,’ Trump tweeted.
Then, in an attempt to paint the Democrats in as negative a light as possible, he added: ‘Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy,’ he added.
But despite his attempt to blame the opposition – recent polls show Republicans and President Trump will bear most of the blame.
A national ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday found 48 percent of people surveyed say they will blame Trump and the GOP for a shutdown, while only 28 percent will blame Democrats.
And another survey by Quinnipiac had similar results – with 32 percent saying they would blame Republicans, 21 percent blaming Trump, and 34 percent blaming Democrats.
The New Yorkers broke off talks without an agreement. But they said in separate statements that ‘progress’ had been made on a deal
President Donald Trump suggested Friday morning that a government shutdown might be coming by day’s end, and prepared to blame Democrats in the Senate who are threatening to block the latest stopgap funding bill
With the late-night vote’s failure, Congress will have failed to keep the lights on in Washington for just the fourth time in a quarter-century.
The White House risks being blamed for the mess that will result as letter-carriers, military contractors and park rangers wonder whether to come to work – and doubt they’ll be paid.
Democrats, too, risk being called obstructionists as the GOP branded the confrontation a ‘Schumer shutdown’ and carped that liberals were holding the entire government’s budget hostage to a demand that ‘illegal immigrants’ receive special treatment.
Democrats are insisting on a permanent recognition of legal status for hundreds of thousands of people brought to the US illegally as minors, a move that perplexed Republicans since there was no legislative language available that could accomplish it.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era relic, guarantees protection from deportation for so-called ‘DREAMers.’
Trump summoned Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to the White House Friday afternoon in the hope of cutting a deal. But the two New Yorkers emerged without an agreement.
‘We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements,’ Schumer said when he returned to Capitol Hill.
Down the hall, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Americans would be watching to see ‘which senators make the patriotic decision’ and which ‘vote to shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage … until we pass an immigration bill.’
The president called off a planned weekend in Florida where he was to attend a big-ticket gala commemorating his first year in office.
The event at his private Mar-a-Lago resort club commanded as much as $250,000 per couple for Republican campaign coffers. His sons Donald Jr. and Eric are expected to attend in his place.
The ‘shutdown’ of government services expected at midnight will by no means be comprehensive.
Since most federal agencies are closed over the weekend anyway, the immediate impact would be minimal.
But ultimately a broad range of federal operations would be curtailed, although food inspections, law enforcement, airport security and other vital services would continue, along with Social Security and military operations.