Senate rejects stopgap spending bill to avoid a shutdown

Congress left Washington no closer to a spending deal as Republicans failed to pass a stopgap spending bill while Democrats dug their heels in and said they would not negotiate with the GOP as a government shutdown looms. On Friday, the House of Representatives held a vote on a “clean” stopgap spending bill known as a continuing resolution that passed with only one Democrat before leaving until October 1, after the shutdown would start. Unsurprisingly, the Senate rejected the legislation. Democrats have said that they wanted to include an extension for expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that passed in 2022 under the Inflation Reduction Act.

It’s a marked difference between what happened in March, when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined with Republicans to pass a “clean” continuing resolution. Even though six Democrats joined him, which was enough to avert a shutdown, it caused a revolt in his caucus and Schumer’s numbers dropped precipitously. Trump for his part has said he wants a “clean” continuing resolution and told Republicans that they did not need to work with the Democrats. This time, it seems like Schumer and the rest of the Democratic caucus — save for Maine’s Rep. Jared Golden in the House and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania in the Senate — are holding the line. All but those members voted against the continuing resolution.

Numerous absences on the Senate side meant that the continuing resolution failed 44-48 on the Senate side and Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski joining the Democrats. At one point, Murkowski and Thune had a testy exchange on the Senate floor, with the Alaska Republican later telling reporters that she’d like to see the subsidies extended for two additional years. This time, Democrats are singing out of the same hymnal as opposed to last time: It’s on Republicans to negotiate with them. A few weeks ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it bluntly.

“But I want to be very clear that this is not a decision of Republican hands about whether they play ball or not,” she told The Independent. “The people elected them to govern, and if they are too incompetent to do that, then people deserve to see their incompetence, and they are in competence.” It’s not entirely surprising that Ocasio-Cortez, whom many floated to challenge Schumer after he voted for the last continuing resolution, would say as much. She’s often criticized Democrats for being too meek in their negotiations in the House. But even moderates in the House and Senate are saying the same.

“The most important thing we have to remember again is that, you know, the Republicans are making us sicker and poorer, and they literally just closed shop and left without finding a solution for the American public,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told The Independent. Gallego just won a difficult race in a state Trump won and has pivoted to the center since he moved from the House to the Senate. The fact he is fully ok with saying no shows that Democrats are confident that they can either get public opinion on their side should there be a shutdown or win the showdown and get an extension of the subsidies.

Republicans also have only themselves to blame. As Inside Washington explained before the August recess, the GOP’s decision to claw back money meant for foreign aid, NPR and PBS on a party line vote with no input from Democrats gave the minority no reason to negotiate. If the Republicans will just rescind money on a party line vote, what is the point of passing a budget? A government shutdown would, of course, hurt many people, including federal employees. But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said federal employees want to see their party fight. “They’re saying hang tough for the people’s health care and stop the Trump administration from continuing to dismantle the federal government and workforce,” Raskin told The Independent. Raskin’s district includes the suburbs of Washington, meaning many of his constituents would be affected by a shutdown.

If his voters are telling him to hang tough, Democrats will have a reason to stick it out. But unanswered in all of this is what happens if neither side budges. Trump presided over the longest government shutdown in history during his first presidency and paid a price. Democrats historically do not government shutdowns and they faced criticism for a brief shutdown in early 2018. “I think people, you know, people would understand the simplicity of the party that runs the entire Congress boycotting negotiations and talks,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has one of the loudest megaphones in Congress and a massive social media following, told The Independent. “I think they would understand that the party in charge has an obligation to try to solve problems, and they’re not trying to do that.”