Government shutdown is ‘up to the Democrats’

Here is a list of senators whose votes could be pivotal to the bill’s fate.

Eleven House Republicans voted against and six Democrats voted for the bill, which would extend the shutdown deadline to February 16, the Associated Press reported.

Graham added that the government needed additional funding for the military and “some direction about the path forward” on a more permanent solution for so-called Dreamers, undocumented people who immigrated to the United States as children.

McConnell lit into Democrats on Thursday evening for taking a hard line on linking the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to the government funding fight.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) echoed Schumer’s call for a small short-term CR that would allow for further negotiations, telling reporters Thursday: “We should reject budget by CR, and we should commit to do a final budget deal like Secretary [James] Mattis asked us to do”. “Now will Senator Schumer and the Senate Democrats do the right thing by the American people, or will they force a government shutdown?”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted in support of an even shorter-term bill late Thursday.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.

But, Republicans had also included a six-year re-authorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in their short-term spending package, a maneuver they’d hoped would pressure Democrats to avert a government shutdown. How – we’ve been talking about how the chances have gone up and down of a shutdown all day today.

“Our Republican friends in the House are trying to annul the election that took place last November”. Republicans say it will be Democrats because they withheld their votes.

After a burst of tweets he second-guessed top Republican legislators and slapped down his own chief of staff, who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.

Defense Secretary James Mattis made the argument against the shutdown, but also argued that Congress’ approaches to funding the government, through short-term spending measures, was harmful to the military. “Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!”

To avoid a government shutdown, the Senate can either pass the House temporary spending bill or make changes and send it back to the House for another vote.

If the government shuts down, it essentially means that agencies and departments that are considered nonessential will stop working until Congress agrees on a federal budget. If they want it govt to stay open it’ll stay open. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from SC threatened to vote against a short-term spending bill, as did Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The president shelved plans to fly to Florida to celebrate the first anniversary of his inauguration at his Mar-a-Lago estate to remain in Washington for what could be a night of down-to-the-wire votes in the Senate. The last time there was a shutdown in 2013, 850,000 federal government workers were furloughed. This is wrong. I urge Senator Schumer and the Senate Democrats to reconsider their reckless intent to shut down the government.