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Legislative bills

Government Shutdown Looms as Congress Fails to Reach a Deal

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Congress headed out of Washington on Friday after the Senate rejected a Democrat-led proposal to keep the government open through Oct. 31, and the House-backed bill to push the shutdown deadline to Nov. 21 also failed, leaving only two workdays to resolve the stalemate before a potential government shutdown would begin on Oct. 1. The Republican-backed measure, which would add $30 million to reimburse local law enforcement for lawmaker security and an additional $28 million for Supreme Court security and $30 million for executive branch protection, was met with opposition from Democrats who argue that they have been left out of the process of shaping the funding bill. The Democrats' rejected proposal would have implemented several Democratic priorities on health care and government spending and also put $186.5 million toward security for lawmakers in Washington and in their home states or districts.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Senate rejected a Democrat-led proposal to keep the government open through Oct. 31, and the House-backed bill to push the shutdown deadline to Nov. 21 also failed.
  • The Republican-backed measure, which would add $30 million to reimburse local law enforcement for lawmaker security and an additional $28 million for Supreme Court security and $30 million for executive branch protection, was met with opposition from Democrats.
  • The Democrats' rejected proposal would have implemented several Democratic priorities on health care and government spending and also put $186.5 million toward security for lawmakers in Washington and in their home states or districts.
  • Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) argued that Republicans will take the blame for a potential shutdown because they have not negotiated with Democrats on the funding bill.
  • Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said that Democrats did not seem serious about negotiating on the funding bill.
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted against the Republican funding extension on the grounds that it did not address health care and other liberal priorities.

Statistics:

  • $30 million: additional funds for reimbursing local law enforcement for lawmaker security
  • $28 million: additional funds for Supreme Court security
  • $30 million: additional funds for executive branch protection
  • $186.5 million: funds for security for lawmakers in Washington and in their home states or districts, proposed by the Democrats
  • 217-212: House vote in favor of the Republican-backed funding bill, with 2 Republicans voting against and most Democrats opposing
  • 47-45: Senate vote against the Democrat-led proposal to keep the government open through Oct. 31
  • 44-48: Senate vote against the Republican-backed funding bill

Sources:

  • [The Hill]
  • [Politico]
  • [The New York Times]
  • [The Washington Post]
  • [Reuters]
  • [Bloomberg]

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