The Senate voted for the seventh time Thursday to block a House-passed bill to reopen the federal government, as only three members of the Democratic caucus joined Republicans in voting to resolve the impasse.
House Republicans’ draft measure to fund the government through Nov. 21, a “clean” continuing resolution that would keep funding at current levels, failed on a procedural vote of 54-45. It took 60 votes to advance.
Democratic Senators John Fetterman (Pa.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and independent Senator Angus King (Maine), who caucus with Democrats, voted for the House funding bill.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed a motion to reconsider the House measure immediately after the vote, giving him the flexibility to bring it up again at a time of his choosing.
The Democrats more broadly are showing up No signs of backing down Recent polls show that more Americans are blaming the Republicans who control the White House and Congress for the shutdown.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (NY) said in an interview with Punchbowl, “Every day gets better for us.”
This comment was posted a day after Schumer released a novel video in which he blamed Republicans for the shutdown and vowed, “Absolutely not. It’s literally a matter of life or death. We will not let Republicans blow up our health care system.”
This defiant attitude took hold Condemnation from Republican leaderswho accused Democrats of playing political games.
“This is not a political game. Democrats may think that way, but I don’t know anyone else who sees it that way,” Thune said before Thursday’s vote. “The longer this goes on, the more the American people realize that Democrats are responsible for this shutdown.”
Vice President Vance criticized Schumer on social media for saying that every day gets better, calling it a “disgusting sentiment.”
But the Republican attacks have had little impact on Democratic senators.
Asked whether Democrats would be blamed for the shutdown, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) responded: “Ultimately, we have a job to do, which is to protect this country from a slide toward authoritarianism and to protect our constituents from enormous increases in costs.”
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Senate Republicans say they will keep the pressure on Democrats by bringing up the House-passed funding bridge for additional votes.
The Senate was scheduled to recess the week of Columbus Day, but lawmakers now expect to cancel the state’s work period to allow senators to remain in Washington to vote on ending the shutdown.
The Senate voted earlier Thursday on an alternative plan from Senate Democrats to reopen the government.
That proposal, which would permanently extend the increased health insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and restore the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts passed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, failed on a party-line vote of 47-50.
The Democrats’ government funding proposal failed in six previous votes since September 19.
More than 1.3 million military personnel are expected to miss their first paychecks during the shutdown on October 15, and the Trump administration is exploring ways to shift funds to pay troops.
The nine-day shutdown is also a burden increasing pressure on airports as Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers work without pay.
Airports in Burbank and Nashville had to postpone flights this month due to staffing issues.
