Wary Senate hopes to avoid shutdown repeat in January as next deadline looms
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Senators believe they won’t be in the same position early next year after a deal is reached that would end the longest shutdown in history.
The bipartisan package, introduced in the Senate late Monday night, would reopen the government by Jan. 30 if it passes the House this week. MPs believe the extension would give them enough time to fund the government the old way, making the issue of a new shutdown moot.
But that depends on whether they can complete work on spending bills, reach a deal with the House of Representatives, and get them to President Donald Trump’s desk before the new deadline.
DEMOCRATS, LEAVED EMPTY-HANDED DURING THE SHUTDOWN, TURNED ANGER AGAINST SCHUMER
“The immediate goal is to get the government open and get those conversations started,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.). (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
If the guaranteed vote on ending Obamacare subsidies doesn’t go the way Senate Democrats want, there’s also the possibility that it could significantly impede Congress’ ability to prevent another shutdown.
“We’ll take them one by one,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “Of course, that’s another deadline we have to deal with. But our immediate goal is to get the government open and get those talks started.”
“There are Democrats and Republicans who are interested in trying to do something on healthcare,” he continued. “And there’s clearly a need. I mean, there’s an issue of health care affordability that needs to be addressed, and the current trajectory we’re on is not a sustainable path.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that Democrats should be united in their demands that “Republicans keep their promise to vote on health benefits in December.”
Thune reiterated his assurance on Sunday, setting the second week of December as the deadline to put the Democrats’ proposal on the floor.
Senate ENDED THE 41-DAY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEADLINE AND SEND A BILATERAL AGREEMENT TO THE PARLIAMENT
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 31, 2023. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)
“The future is unpredictable, but we must unequivocally and decisively continue our fight for affordable health insurance by expanding the scope of incentives and other measures. [Affordable Care Act]“Republicans have a reflexive obsession with repealing or destroying the ACA,” Blumenthal said.
The hope is that the government will be funded appropriations bills will be key to preventing another shutdown.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she expects Thune to craft a new spending bill package; This package combines defense, labor, transportation and housing bills into a single piece.
“The more appropriations bills we can pass, the better off we will be, the better served the American people will be,” he said.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R.S.D.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was unsure whether lawmakers would be in the same spot again in January.
MIKE JOHNSON KEEPING HIS VOTE ON WEDNESDAY UNTIL THE END OF THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she expects Thune to craft a new package of spending bills. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
But he believed the desire to move forward on spending bills, largely spurred by a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government, was a good start.
“This makes it a lot easier to not have a shutdown happen again,” he said.
Despite Democrats’ anger and frustration over the collapse of health care demands, they also want to pass bipartisan funding bills, largely aimed at pushing back against cuts made by the Trump administration.
But Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., predicted it would be extremely difficult to pass a long-term bipartisan budget.
“We cannot sign a long-term budget that does nothing for healthcare and does nothing to stop the destruction of our democracy,” he said. “You know, there’s no real protection against Trump’s illegality in the short-term spending bill.”
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
For now, some, like Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., see the January deadline as “light years away,” while others aren’t ready to make a prediction about what will happen next.
D-Art. “It’s just one step at a time,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Fox News Digital.
