WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are trying to end the government shutdown by preparing a new bipartisan package of spending bills and challenging Democrats to vote for it, but it was unclear whether their plan would work.
Many Democrats said they would continue to wait for an extension of expiring health care subsidies, which is not expected to be part of the legislation.
Senate Democrats, who have now voted against reopening the government 14 times, left their second caucus meeting of the week on Thursday with few answers about whether they could ultimately find a compromise with Republicans – or even with each other – on how to end the shutdown.
A test vote on the new package, which has not yet been publicly announced, could take place as early as Friday. Then Democrats will have to make a crucial decision: Do they continue to fight for a meaningful agreement to extend health care subsidies that expire in January while prolonging the pain of the lockdown? Or will they vote to reopen the government and hope for the best while Republicans promise an eventual health care vote but no guaranteed outcome?
Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive election earlier this week, many Democrats say the fight won’t be over until Republicans and President Donald Trump negotiate an extension with them.
“That’s what leaders do,” said Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. “You have the hammer, you have the majority, you have to bring people together.”
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said Democrats are “obviously not unanimous,” but they agree that “the vote will be highly unlikely without something on health care.”
Other Democrats have been working on a deal that would allow the government to reopen only with an agreement on a future vote on health care subsidies. Lawmakers from both parties felt increasing urgency to ease the growing crisis at airports, pay government workers and restore delayed food aid to millions of people after the shutdown became the longest in U.S. history.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s decision to continue the Senate session on Friday and perhaps over the weekend came after Trump urged Senate Republicans to end the shutdown at a White House breakfast on Wednesday. Trump said he considers the six-week standoff to be a “big, negative factor” for Republicans in Tuesday’s election.
A new attempt to reopen the government
The bipartisan package Thune is proposing would fund parts of the government — including food assistance, veterans programs and the Legislature — and extend funding for everything else until December or January.
The new package would replace the House-passed bill, which Democrats have repeatedly rejected. This legislation would only extend state funding through Nov. 21, a date that is swift approaching after six weeks of inaction.
The details still had to be worked out, but the new legislation reflects a tentative plan drawn up by moderate Democrats in the hope of reaching an agreement. The proposal, introduced by New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, would also address her Republican offer to vote on extending expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies at a later date.
It was still unclear what Thune, who has refused to negotiate during the government shutdown, would promise on health care and whether enough Democrats would be willing to move forward. The Republicans have been five votes low of the 60 they need for weeks.
Johnson deals a setback to cross-party talks
Democrats are under pressure from unions that want an end to the shutdown and allied groups that want them to stand firm. Many Democrats have argued that Democrats’ results in Tuesday’s election show that voters want them to continue the fight until Republicans give in and agree to an extension of health tax credits.
A vote on health care subsidies “has to mean something,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said this week. “This represents a commitment from the Speaker of the House that he will support the legislation that the President will sign.”
But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made clear Thursday morning that he will not commit to Democrats. “I don’t promise anyone anything,” Johnson said when asked if he could promise a vote on a health care bill.
Johnson’s clear rejection was a setback for the negotiators. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, one of the moderate Democrats involved in the negotiations, said the speaker’s comments were “a significant problem.”
“We have to make sure we have a deal that we have broad support for,” Peters said.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not yet commented on the latest push. He has repeatedly called on Trump to sit down with Democrats – a meeting that seems unlikely.
“Donald Trump is clearly feeling the pressure to end this shutdown,” Schumer said Thursday.
Negotiations closed to the public become public
A group of Democrats and Republicans that have been quietly negotiating for weeks insisted they were making steady progress toward an agreement.
In a new development, Republicans indicated Thursday that they may be open to including language in a final agreement that would reverse some of the White House’s mass layoffs of government workers, according to two people familiar with the private conversations who were granted anonymity to discuss them. However, it was unclear whether this proposal would be included in the new legislative package.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has spoken with Democrats, says she wants furloughed workers to get their wages back and workers laid off during the shutdown to be “recalled.”
“We’re still negotiating that language,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
