Senate blocks Trump-backed stopgap as shutdown deadline looms
House-approved short-term funding extension fails in the Senate 44-48. Democrats press for policy riders, Republicans call for negotiations ahead of a looming Sept. 30 deadline and a holiday break.
WASHINGTON — A stopgap funding bill backed by House Republicans to avert a government shutdown failed in the Senate on the eve of a Sept. 30 funding deadline. The measure would have kept the government open through Nov. 21 and funded security and other government operations while lawmakers finished longer-term appropriations. It cleared the House but was blocked in the Senate, 44-48, with only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., voting in favor. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voted against. Lawmakers were preparing to depart Washington for Rosh Hashanah, with two working days remaining before the deadline.
Democrats blamed President Donald Trump for the standoff, arguing the GOP plan reflects a partisan approach. Senate Republicans argued the measure could keep the government open while Congress works on a longer package, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., urged Democrats to negotiate from a GOP baseline. Thune said the president was prepared to sign the stopgap bill if it reached his desk and criticized Democrats for not engaging in negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer contended that talks must be organized and that progress will require bipartisan engagement; he warned that a shutdown remains possible if talks stall.
Democrats unveiled a counter-proposal that would attach policy riders to the continuing resolution, including a permanent extension of Obamacare subsidies, provisions addressing Medicaid funding in Trump’s plan, and a clawback of funding for NPR and PBS. Republicans dismissed the package as a Trojan horse designed to tilt negotiations toward a broader liberal agenda. They argued that extending Obamacare credits is not germane to a spending bill and should be addressed after a shutdown is averted.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said the Obamacare credits matter for consumers because rate notices go out Oct. 1, and lawmakers should act now to prevent rate shocks.
Two weeks remain before the government funding deadline, and lawmakers are expected to return from the Jewish New Year break to continue talks. The House previously passed the Trump-backed stopgap, but it stalled in the Senate amid partisan disagreement, underscoring the partisan divide as the deadline approaches.
