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Shutdown will stretch into another week as Senate standoff continues

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The government shutdown will go into a second week.

Senators rejected another opportunity Friday to reopen agencies and are now out of session until Monday, when leadership is expected to force a fifth vote on a House-passed proposal to fund the government through Nov. 21.

The stalemate comes as the fallout from the shutdown is growing: White House budget director Russ Vought announced Friday he was targeting funding in Illinois, another largely Democratic state, following cuts made earlier in the week to infrastructure projects in New York. The administration is also on the precipice of enacting its widely telegraphed plans to carry out mass firings of federal employees.

So far, however, congressional leaders and the White House are locked in a cold war, with no sign that, left to their own devices, they would be able to find a way to reopen the government anytime soon.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune played down the chances of a rumored meeting Friday with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying he didn’t think it would be productive unless the top Senate Democrat is ready to declare a detente.

“I don’t think there’s at this point a lot to negotiate, and I think at this point a lot of the more productive conversations are happening outside of the leader’s office,” Thune said Friday.

That was a reference to a bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators that has been talking for days about finding a path out of the shutdown. But while those conversations are ongoing, involved GOP senators said Friday, they don’t believe enough Democrats are ready to break ranks with party leadership to support the House-passed stopgap bill.

“I’m not optimistic that we have the numbers at this stage of the game, but it really depends on if any of our colleagues want to get to yes,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a key player on the Democratic side, said only, “We’re talking.” She was spotted huddling with some of her GOP counterparts, including Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), around the Senate Friday.

Schumer, in a Friday floor speech, showed no signs of backing down, saying that Congress needs to “act now” on extending health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Democrats warn that Congress can’t wait past Nov. 1 to extend the subsidies because open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans will start before then.

“We’re ready to work on a path forward to lower health care costs for the American people and fund the government,” Schumer said.

Rounds agreed that any ACA deal needs to be “done by about Nov. 1” but suggested that Democrats were in a self-defeating position by refusing to reopen the government and allow negotiations to proceed. “Their time is running out as well,” he said.

Therein lies the chicken-and-egg nature of the stalemate: Democrats are demanding a deal on the insurance subsidies to reopen the government, while Republicans insist there can be no deal so long as the government is closed. Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson held a joint new conference on Friday morning to reiterate that message.

“Open the government. Open the discussions,” said Thune’s top spokesperson, Ryan Wrasse, in an X post Friday.

Republicans, instead, are hoping that they can peel off enough Democratic senators to support the GOP-led funding bill by offering them something short of an ACA deal attached to the stopgap spending measure.

Ideas being tossed around the bipartisan group include seeking commitments on moving full-year appropriations bills once the government reopens. They’ve also talked about reaching an understanding about how the ACA negotiations could work — again, only once the government is open. Democrats have also raised their desire to block any White House efforts to claw back already-approved funding for the length of the stopgap bill.

But the talks remain unsettled, and no additional Democrats broke ranks Friday to vote for the House-passed stopgap. The GOP bill failed 54-44, falling short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voted for the GOP bill, while Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against it — same as a Wednesday vote taken just hours after the shutdown began.

Republicans also rejected a Democratic proposal for the fifth time, in a 52-46 vote. That bill would link funding the government through the end of October to various Democratic health care priorities, including an extension of the ACA subsidies and a rollback of some provisions in the GOP megabill enacted this summer.

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Congress

House Republicans huddle with Johnson to plot party-line package

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A large contingent of House Republicans — encompassing hard-liners, Budget Committee members, panel chairs and party leaders — piled into Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon to discuss a second party-line package, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of the private meeting.

Among the lawmakers attending were Budget Chair Jodey Arrington of Texas and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, also of Texas.

Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida, Tom McClintock of California and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma were also on hand, alongside Pennsylvania Reps. Lloyd Smucker and Scott Perry.

“We’re definitely preparing to move forward,” Johnson said in an interview as he left the meeting, regarding the House GOP Conference’s plans to pursue another bill through the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. “We’re talking about more details. Lots of work going on.”

One of the biggest issues members are trying to work through at the moment is how to close the wide gap between Republicans in the House and Senate. Most House Republicans want a more expansive bill with myriad conservative policy priorities to ride alongside war and defense funding, while the Senate GOP is largely pushing for a more narrowly-focused measure, according to the four people.

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Congress

Senate rejects voter ID

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Senate Democrats rejected a GOP photo ID amendment Thursday, an issue that Republicans are eager to use as a cudgel in the midterms.

Senators voted 53-47 on the amendment from Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, which needed 60 votes to advance. Republicans wanted to add the language to their election bill, known as the SAVE America Act.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the amendment “would impose the single strictest voter ID law in America.”

“Stricter than Texas. Stricter than Florida. Stricter than any state in the country,” he said.

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Congress

John Thune says he’s aiming to land DHS deal Thursday

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to clinch a bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding agreement Thursday.

“I think the Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, Thune told reporters. “So let’s hope this gets it done.”

“We’re going to know soon,” he added.

The South Dakota Republican declined to discuss details of the offer but suggested it was similar to where the discussions were headed over the weekend. GOP senators then were looking at a bipartisan deal that would fund most of DHS but leave out funding for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.

That offer was rejected by Democrats. But two people granted anonymity to discuss the revised proposal said it, too, omitted only ERO money but included additional language to try to address some of Democrats’ concerns.

Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Senate is expected to vote again on the House-passed DHS bill Thursday afternoon. The House is also voting again on DHS funding Thursday and is planning to leave town Friday morning for a two-week holiday recess. Progress in the Senate could prompt House GOP leaders to stay in session in hopes of sending a bill to President Donald Trump.

Asked about the Senate vote, Thune said he hoped there would be “some finality in this real soon.”

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