Senate Democrats voted for the fourth time Friday to defeat a House-passed bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21 and end the three-day government shutdown that has left tens of thousands of federal employees furloughed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) failed to pick up any additional Democratic votes for the clean, seven-week funding measure, leaving the tally at 54-44. It needed 60 votes to pass.
Three members of the Democratic caucus voted to advance the bill: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.) and Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Cortez Masto, Fetterman and King voted twice previously for the bill, saying they wanted to avoid a shutdown that would hurt constituents and give more power to President Trump to cut agencies and fire federal employees.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican vote against it.
Republicans have promised to have a discussion with Democrats about extending enhanced health care premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are due to expire at the end of the year, though Thune said he could not make any commitments. Democrats have demanded an extension be attached to the short-term funding bill.
Senate Republicans have also tried to sweeten a potential deal with Democrats by promising to move the regular appropriations bills if the government reopens, which would give Democrats a chance to pursue their funding priorities.
A person familiar with the negotiations between Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee said that GOP senators thought they were “very close” Thursday evening to a bipartisan agreement that would allow eight or nine Democrats to vote for the House-passed continuing resolution to reopen government.
A GOP senator familiar with the talks, however, said the momentum toward a deal died suddenly on Friday as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) stepped in to urge Democratic colleagues to hold out against the House-passed stopgap funding measure until Republicans agree to significant concessions on extending the health premium tax credits.
Thune renewed his call Friday for wavering moderate Democratic senators to vote for the House bill, which Democrats rejected during two separate votes Tuesday and Wednesday.
“All we need is a handful more of Democrats. We have a majority of senators — 55 senators have already voted for this clean, short-term, nonpartisan CR,” Thune said at a press conference before the vote.
He presented the 24-page bill as the only viable legislative vehicle to reopen the government.
“We have an opportunity to pick up a House-passed bill that if it passes the Senate will be sent to the White House, the president will sign it and the government will reopen, it’s that simple and that straightforward,” he said.
But the big sticking point for Democrats is the looming expiration of the enhanced premium subsidies, which they say will start affecting insurance rates when the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace begins open enrollment in states across the country on Nov. 1.
Thune ruled out making any promises on extending the enhanced subsidies in exchange for reopening the government.
“We can’t make commitments or promises on the COVID subsidies, because that’s not something that we can guarantee that there are the votes there to do,” Thune said.
He said he’s “hoping to have a conversation” with Democrats on the issue but warned “that can’t happen while the government is shut down.”
Trump has tried to ramp up pressure on Democrats to vote for the funding bill by following through on his threat to permanently lay off thousands of federal employees if the government remains closed.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has begun talking to Cabinet secretaries about which agencies would be targeted for layoffs.
But Democrats are holding firm in their opposition to the House Republican spending bill.
Schumer argued on the Senate floor Friday that “70 percent of Americans support extending the ACA premium tax credit,” citing a Washington Post poll.
He also pointed to a poll conducted by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group, released Friday that showed 59 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of MAGA supporters favor extending the subsidies.
Schumer said a failure to extend the enhanced subsidies would be “devastating.”
“That is all Democrats want to fix. We are on the side of the people,” he said. “Democrats remain ready and willing to work with the other side. We’re ready to work on a path forward to lower health care costs for the American people to fund the federal government.”
The Senate also voted for a fourth time to reject an alternative Senate Democratic continuing resolution that would fund the government through Oct. 31, permanently extend the enhanced premium tax credits at a cost of $350 billion over 10 years and restore nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July.
The legislation would also restore funding to PBS and NPR and restrict White House budget director from targeting federal funding with pocket rescissions.
A motion to reconsider the bill failed by a vote of 46 to 52.