The Senate on Friday failed for the fourth time to pass government funding bills, ensuring the federal shutdown will continue through the weekend as congressional leaders remain deadlocked.
Ahead of the votes, Senate Majority Leader John Thune stood firm on the Senate floor, rejecting Democratic demands tied to reopening the government.
“This shutdown needs to end sooner rather than later, and there’s only one way out of it,” Thune said. “Democrats need to vote for the clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution sitting right there.”
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed Republicans for prolonging the closure, calling it “the Trump shutdown” and accusing the GOP of threatening Americans’ health care.
“It’s Day 3 of the Trump shutdown, and the government remains closed because Donald Trump and Republicans insist on raising Americans’ health care premiums and kicking millions off their insurance,” Schumer said.
The Senate considered two proposals Friday: a seven-week Republican-backed stopgap bill and a Democratic measure that included health care provisions. Both failed, with no change from Wednesday’s votes.
With no additional votes planned for the weekend, Thune indicated the chamber would not reconvene until next week, making it all but certain the shutdown will continue at least through Monday.
The House also announced it will not hold votes next week, delaying any potential resolution until mid-October while the Senate works on a new funding plan.
Republicans have said they are open to negotiating changes to Affordable Care Act tax credits, but only after the government reopens.
Asked by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Jay O’Brien whether Democrats trust those assurances, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “We don’t view a government shutdown as leverage. We need an ironclad legislative agreement to address the health care issues that we have raised.”
Thune continued urging Democrats to support the GOP bill, saying it would immediately end the shutdown if passed.
“We have an opportunity to pick up a House-passed bill that, if it passes the Senate, will be sent to the White House, the president will sign it and the government will reopen,” Thune said. “All we need is a handful more Democrats.”
He added that he hopes Democrats “have a chance to think about it” over the weekend.
“I don’t know how many times you give them a chance to vote no,” Thune said. “Maybe over the weekend some of these conversations start to result in something so we can start moving votes and actually get this thing passed. But there’s nothing to be gained at this point by negotiating something that there’s nothing to negotiate.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson also refused to commit to negotiating with Democrats on their $400 billion proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
“Some of the issues they’re bringing to the table and demanding immediate easy answers for are not easy answers — they take time to deliberate,” Johnson said. “We can’t snap our fingers and decide this in a room with a few leaders. That’s not how this works.”
