Senate Schedules Vote Early Monday Morning to End Shutdown

No progress was made today on resolving the government shutdown.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a vote for 1:00 am ET on Monday morning on a new version of a Continuing Resolution (CR).  It would fund the government through February 8, 2018 instead of February 16 as passed by the House.  It would not address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration issue that is the crux of Democratic opposition to the CR.

The government has been funded by a series of three CRs since FY2018 began on October 1, 2017.  The third one expired at midnight last night and the Senate failed to pass a fourth CR before that happened.  With the expiration of appropriated funding, many government operations had to shut down.

The vote on the CR was 50-49.  Sixty votes were needed for passage.

Democrats are insisting that before another CR is adopted that agreement be reached on extending protections under DACA.  Republicans are demanding that before any more negotiations take place on DACA, Democrats agree to a new CR.

The impasse showed no signs of abating today.

McConnell blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for filibustering a bill that had the bipartisan support of a majority of Senators, which is technically correct.  Fifty Senators voted in favor of the bill, of which 5 were Democrats.

Schumer blamed President Trump.  He told the Senate this morning that the two of them were close to agreement after a meeting yesterday.  He said that he had offered to include full-year funding in a new CR for DOD because the military needs certainty, and to funding the border wall, which is a centerpiece of Trump’s immigration platform, in return for resolving the DACA issue.  But negotiating with Trump is like negotiating with Jello-O, Schumer exclaimed this morning, because a few hours later the White House called to inform him that Trump now wanted more concessions.

Fingerpointing continued throughout the day on both sides of Capitol Hill and from the White House.

This is an evolving situation.  Stay tuned for updates.