Thursday marked day nine of the shutdown – and the seventh failed attempt to pass the House GOP’s continuing resolution. Now into the second week since government funding expired, both the Republicans and Democrats of Congress are standing firm on their all-or-nothing positions. But as the pressure mounts, cracks may be forming.
On Thursday, October 9, the Senate voted for a seventh time on dueling continuing resolutions – one proposed by Democrats and another by Republicans that had already passed the House.
The Democrats’ bill failed 47-50 in a more predictable party-line vote.
Congressional Democrats have rejected the Republican bill, demanding at the very least a permanent extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that were added to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans refused to give any ground, either. Thus, the shutdown continues, and tensions rise on Capitol Hill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Republican Representative Mike Lawler, a fellow New Yorker, had a confrontation in a hallway that devolved into personal insults. Jeffries later referred to the other lawmaker as a “malignant clown.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) will keep the lower chamber in recess while the Senate hashes out its own internal strife, though not everyone in his party agrees that’s the best play. While many GOP members of Congress press for Johnson to reconvene the House and pass a bill to pay the armed services – if they take another swing at a continuing resolution that everyone can get behind – the speaker advises it’s best to stay out of session and send the message that “we’ve done our job.” As well, he admitted that, as heated as some confrontations have gotten, it might be safer to stay physically separated.
Even some Senate Republicans say the House should be in session and that the full leadership of Congress should be working together. But the House did pass a stopgap funding bill; it just isn’t clearing the Senate. It’s even getting a majority – 54-45, with some Democratic support, as of the latest vote on Thursday – but because of the filibuster rules, 60 is the magic number.
And, of course, some House Republicans are firing back, calling for the Senate majority to change the rules. Go nuclear, as they say, and remove the filibuster rule on legislation so that it can pass with a simple majority. But according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), the nuclear option is not presently on the table. “There’s always a lot of swirl out there, as you know, from social media, et cetera, but no, I have not had that conversation,” Thune answered when asked if the White House was pushing for an end to the filibuster.
It’s a tense time in the nation’s capital right now, but some of the stalwarts standing firm now seem to be wavering. Each side has at least made a show of being open to compromise. The heated exchange between Reps. Jeffries and Lawler regarded a suggestion by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) to extend the ACA subsidies for one more year. Jeffries refused because it wasn’t permanent. The Democratic leader called the one-year extension a “nonstarter” and a “laughable proposition.” He did point out – and rightly so – that the House wasn’t in session and that the speaker wasn’t interested in passing another continuing resolution. Even if he accepted the offer, would it have come to fruition?
Still, even he seemed to relent later. Jeffries was asked directly whether it was true that “if they’re not made permanent, you won’t change your position on the shutdown?” He answered “no,” clarifying that “we need to have a meaningful bipartisan discussion.”
“Our position, as articulated in the legislation that we’ve introduced, is a permanent extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” he continued. “but we’re open to having a conversation in good faith to try to address this Republican health care crisis.”
By Thursday, at least some Republicans and Democrats were considering temporary extensions with benefits capped based on income. “Two and two” is the approach Sen. King supports – two years of subsidies capped at $200,000 household income. Now, it seems, the hangup might be more about when the limitations begin. Republicans say it must be in year one, while Democrats argue the logistics are too complicated for that.
Still, that sounds an awful lot like progress toward a deal – but, then, the House speaker would have to reconvene to vote on whatever comes out of this discussion, and he, at least, seems so far unwilling to abandon his already passed measure. Could the shutdown be coming to an end soon – or are there still too many in camp all-or-nothing to allow for any compromise?