Government shutdown looms as Senate Democrats reject House GOP bill, Republicans reject Patty Murray’s alternative

WASHINGTON – Congress left town on Friday without passing a bill to fund the government, leaving just two legislative days before a shutdown would begin at the end of the month, after Republicans and Democrats rejected each other’s short-term spending bills.

The House passed a Republican proposal Friday morning to fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21, with all but one Democrat opposed. Then, in the Senate, where some Democratic support is needed to reach the 60-vote threshold to pass the bill, Republicans rejected an alternative proposal introduced by Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Murray’s bill would fund the government through Oct. 31 and includes two priorities for Democrats: funding for health care and limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to rescind funding approved by Congress. Senate Republicans rejected those conditions, leaving Congress locked in a stalemate as lawmakers went home for the week of Rosh Hashanah. When they return to the Capitol on Sept. 29, they will have only two days before a government shutdown begins.

After Republicans voted down her bill, Murray took to the floor to tout her party’s efforts to preserve health care funding. Democrats want to undo the cuts to Medicaid included in the tax-and-spending bill Republicans passed in July, and to extend federal subsidies for private health insurance that are set to expire at year’s end.

“Every senator had a simple choice: vote for a bill to responsibly fund the government and address the health care crisis,” she said. “Republicans chose to sit on their hands, or not even show up, rather than lift a finger to address the health care crisis they themselves created.”

Both Democrats and Republicans are betting that a shutdown will benefit them politically, or at least that most Americans will blame the other party.

“If you want Democratic votes, you need to work with us,” Murray said. “Compromise is a very basic principle every American understands, and if Republicans don’t bother working with Democrats just because Donald Trump said so, it will be a Republican shutdown. Republicans control all of government: the House, Senate, and White House. The American people will know exactly who to blame.”

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside, a Republican who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said his party has put forward a “clean” bill to extend spending at current levels, while Democrats are trying to use the threat of a shutdown for leverage to achieve other goals.

“Senate Democrats are threatening to shut down the government, furlough federal employees, stop essential services and prevent servicemembers from being paid rather than pass a short-term extension of current fiscal year funding,” he said in a statement. “Not one American benefits from a federal government shutdown; they must act to keep the government open.”

Recent congressional history is full of examples of both parties, when out of power, using the threat of a shutdown to demand concessions from the majority party. Senate Democrats’ calculations are also informed by the last funding showdown in March, when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York ultimately voted with Republicans to avert a shutdown. That decision frustrated many Democrats, including Murray, who argue they need to use their limited leverage to slow Trump’s policies.

In March, some House Republicans balked at continuing to fund the government without making cuts to spending, but the House vote on Friday was nearly along party lines. Just two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, voted against the bill. Only one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it. In the Senate, no member crossed party lines in Friday’s vote.