Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Monday that the GOP-controlled chamber is seeking to craft a new funding measure to reopen the government beyond the initial timeline set by the House.
The Nov. 21 funding date set by legislation passed in September by House Republicans, which has failed in the Senate 13 times because of a Democratic filibuster, will likely need to be extended into January to allow more time for the full-year appropriations process once Congress eventually emerges from the shutdown.
Thune’s remarks, made to reporters, came on the 34th day of the shutdown, which is careening toward a new record length. The longest shutdown on record, which lasted 35 days, occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term. However, it was only a partial shutdown, affecting government services and employees less.
Talks among congressional leaders and the White House remained nonexistent as of Monday. However, rank-and-file members continued discussions behind the scenes over possible off-ramps and how to address expiring Obamacare subsidies at the center of the stalemate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) expressed openness to an extended short-term funding date that could jumpstart broader healthcare negotiations. However, Republicans and Trump said those talks can only happen once the shutdown ends. The Senate will still face a 60-vote threshold with any new stopgap funding and require significant Democratic buy-in to overcome a filibuster.
RECORD-BREAKING CONGRESS BARRELS TOWARD ANOTHER UNWANTED MILESTONE
“The only plan Republicans have for healthcare seems to be to eliminate it and then to tell working people to go figure it out on their own,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in floor remarks. “That’s not a healthcare plan. That’s cruel. But it’s what Republicans have tried to do with healthcare for decades.”
Thune said in a floor speech that Republicans were “ready and willing to have that discussion, but first Democrats need to stop playing politics with people’s lives and reopen the government.”
