The U.S. government shutdown entered its eighth day on Wednesday (October 8), as the Senate rejected for the sixth time a bipartisan spending bill. The House of Representatives, backed by Republicans, failed to pass a “clean” short-term funding bill with 54 votes in favor and 45 against. This bill proposed to maintain current government spending levels and provide funding until November 21 for seven weeks.
Despite Democratic senators John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada breaking ranks with the Democratic Party to support the Republican proposal, Republican Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky voted against it. The bill required 60 votes to overcome the Senate’s lengthy debate rules.
The Democratic bill also faced defeat with 47 votes in favor and 52 against. They called for including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, in the short-term spending bill to ensure a permanent extension of healthcare subsidies and prevent premium spikes under the plan. They sought to extend the subsidies originally issued by the Biden administration, expiring at the end of the year.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas did not cast a vote. Both versions of the spending bills from the two parties have failed in the past five votes. Currently, there are no signs of an end to the government shutdown. Leaders from both parties blame each other for causing the shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, stated before the vote that “Republicans are shutting down the government because they refuse to address and respond to America’s healthcare crisis.”
According to Punchbowl News, Senator Susan Collins from Maine proposed a potential solution to end the government shutdown, including a commitment from Republicans to an agreement related to strengthening Obamacare tax provisions.
However, her proposal to discuss extending the Obamacare program after reopening the government failed to persuade any Democratic senators to join.
On Monday (6th), President Trump expressed willingness to negotiate with Democrats on the healthcare subsidy issue to end the funding deadlock. However, he later explained on social media that “I am willing to work with Democrats on our failed healthcare policies or any other issue, but they must first allow our government to reopen.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, responded to Schumer’s statement saying that the Democratic funding proposal “will not pass in the House, nor will it be signed into law by the President.”
The White House warned that if the government shutdown persists for a longer period, federal employees may face furloughs and the possibility of not receiving backpay for furloughed workers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated on Wednesday that he agrees with the legal requirement that furloughed employees will receive backpay upon returning to work.