Senate vote on funding bill fails again, government shutdown in 16th day скачать в хорошем качестве

Senate vote on funding bill fails again, government shutdown in 16th day

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time Thursday a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The vote failed on a 51-45 tally, well short of the 60 needed to advance with the Senate’s filibuster rules. The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. It has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate floor, while House Republicans have left Washington altogether. The standoff has lasted over two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, even more without a guaranteed payday and Congress essentially paralyzed. “As we are positioning as two sides that are seemingly dug in on this 16th day of a shutdown, real people are wondering is their government going to be there for them?” said GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The shutdown is on track to become the second longest, surpassing the 16-day closure in 2013, which was also a debate over the Affordable Care Act. The longest ended in 2019, after 35 days. While the military was paid this week, it’s unclear how long that will last. The White House budget office told Congress that it cost $6.5 billion to cover this one pay period. The next one is two weeks. Senate Majority Leader John Thune again and again has tried to pressure Democrats to break from their strategy of voting against the stopgap funding bill. It hasn’t worked. And while some bipartisan talks have been ongoing about potential compromises on health care, they haven’t produced any meaningful progress toward reopening the government. “The Democratic Party is the party that will not take yes for an answer,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in an angry speech on the Senate floor.