Senate Democrats voted Thursday to block the annual, year-round defense appropriations bill, even though the measure passed the committee earlier this year with powerful bipartisan support.
The vote is the latest sign that bipartisan relations on Capitol Hill are deteriorating as the government shutdown stretches into its third week.
The Senate voted 50-44 voted against passage of the bill after Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected to considering the defense spending bill without also voting on the annual Labor, Health and Human Services budget bill. It took 60 votes to advance.
“It has always been unacceptable for Democrats to pass the defense bill without other bills that contain so many things that are important to the American people, such as health care, housing and security,” Schumer told reporters before the vote.
Three centrist Democrats voted to advance the measure: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.) and Jeanne Shaheen (NH).
Cortez Masto and Fetterman previously voted for a House-passed government reopening bill, while Shaheen was at the center of talks with Republican colleagues about a deal to end the shutdown.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, criticized Democratic colleagues for blocking a bill he said was critical to protecting national security.
“Two weeks ago, when Democrats decided to hold the federal government hostage over partisan priorities, I warned that shutting it down would achieve nothing. Today, our colleagues’ refusal to even consider the largely bipartisan defense budget proposal is a sobering reminder that, however, there is much to lose,” he said in a statement.
The bill would provide $171 billion for weapons systems procurement and $141 billion for platform research, development and testing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has put a damper on the negotiations When he introduced the full-year funding bill Wednesday, he was over ending the shutdown. By doing so, he surprised Democrats and led them to vote against a measure that would allow military members to pay their salaries.
Several centrist members of the Democratic caucus were undecided about whether to vote for passage of the defense bill as they waited to hear whether it would be paired with the Labor, Health and Human Services Funding Act and other non-defense appropriations bills.
“I’m still trying to figure out what the plan is. Whether the plan is to use the Senate as a replacement.” [defense] Bill and the Labor Party [Health and Human Services] Invoice, then yes. If the plan is to just run [the defense bill] Individually, the answer is no,” said Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent Democratic representative, when asked whether he would vote to advance the defense measure.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) also said before the vote that he was unsure how he would vote until he knew more about how the defense bill would link to other bills.
The $852 billion defense spending bill passed the committee in July with powerful bipartisan support, passing by a vote of 26-3.
Thune called Thursday’s vote an critical opportunity to pay more than a million military members who are at risk of missing paychecks during an extended lockdown.
“If we can’t reopen the entire government, we can at least make some progress in securing the pay of our troops and defending our country,” he said before the Senate vote.
The defense spending bill includes $193 billion in pay and benefits for military personnel and their families, as well as a 3.8 percent pay enhance for all military personnel.
President Trump said over the weekend that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to employ “all available resources” to ensure military members are paid during the shutdown.
But senators from both parties don’t have much information about what resources the Trump administration is using or what legal authority it is relying on.
The vote on the defense bill followed an earlier vote on a continuing resolution passed by the House to fund the government through Nov. 21. Senate Democrats rejected the measure for the tenth time.
The Senate is expected to adjourn its sessions for this week and reconvene on Monday to resume debate on reopening the government.
Updated at 3:46 p.m
