The Senate on Thursday voted for a seventh time to block a House-passed bill to reopen the federal government, as only three members of the Democratic caucus joined Republicans in voting to resolve the impasse.
The House Republican-drafted measure to fund the government through Nov. 21, a “clean” continuing resolution that would keep funding at its current level, failed to advance on a procedural vote, 54-45. It needed 60 votes to advance.
Democratic Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, voted for the House funding bill.
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Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican to vote against it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed a motion to reconsider the House measure immediately after the vote, giving him flexibility to bring it back to the floor at a time of his choosing.
Democrats, more broadly, are showing no sign of backing down as recent polls show that more Americans blame Republicans, who control the White House and Congress, for the shutdown.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) in an interview with Punchbowl declared: “Every day gets better for us.”
That comment was published a day after Schumer released a new video blaming Republicans for the shutdown and vowing: “No f—ing way. It’s literally life or death. We will not let Republicans blow up our health care system.”
That defiant stance drew condemnation from Republican leaders, who accused Democrats of playing political games.
“This isn’t a political game. Democrats might feel that way, but I don’t know of anybody else that does,” Thune declared on the floor before Thursday’s vote. “The longer this goes on, the more the American people realize that Democrats own this shutdown.”
Vice President Vance slammed Schumer on social media for saying every day gets better, calling it a “vile sentiment.”
But the Republican attacks are having little impact on Democratic senators.
Asked whether Democrats will get some blame for the shutdown, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argued, “Ultimately, we have a job to do, which is to protect this country from a slide toward authoritarianism and to protect our constituents from giant cost increases.”
“Shutdowns hurt, they do, but people are going to die later this year when 4 million people lose health insurance,” he said.
Senate Republicans say they’ll keep the pressure on Democrats by bringing the House-passed funding stopgap back to the floor for additional votes.
The Senate was scheduled to take a recess during the week of Columbus Day, but lawmakers now expect the state work period to be canceled so senators can remain in Washington to vote on ending the shutdown.
The Senate voted earlier Thursday on an alternative Senate Democratic plan to reopen the government.
That proposal, which would permanently extend enhanced health insurance premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, failed to advance on a party-line vote, 47 to 50.
The Democrats’ government funding proposal failed to advance in six previous votes since Sept. 19.
More than 1.3 million members of the military are scheduled to miss their first paychecks during the shutdown on Oct. 15, and the Trump administration is reviewing options to shift funding to pay troops.
The nine-day shutdown is also putting increasing pressure on airports as Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers are working without pay.
Airports in Burbank and Nashville were forced to delay flights this month because of staffing issues.