The Senate failed Friday to pass a bill to pay federal workers forced to work without pay during the government shutdown, as Democrats refused to give in to the Republican Party’s attempts to fund parts of the federal government without major concessions for their party.
The shutdown — already the longest on record — will likely extend into next week as its painful consequences impact millions of Americans across the country, from major disruptions to air travel to uncertainty over critical federal aid programs.
The vote was 53 to 43. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans in support: Senators Ben Ray Lujan, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s federal worker pay bill failed even after Republicans said they would. add language specifically requested by Democrats to pay both workers who must work during the shutdown – also known as “essential” workers – as well as the hundreds of thousands of workers who have been put out of work.
It’s the latest sign that the record-breaking standoff at the Capitol is nowhere near ending. Days earlier, Republican Party leaders believed Democrats were close to accepting their proposal for a future vote on health care subsidies. Now, exasperated Senate Majority Leader John Thune finds himself without a real path forward as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats line up behind their own offer that Republican lawmakers have largely rejected.
In response to the vote on the federal wage bill, Democrats, for their part, said they refused to concede to a funding measure that limits shutdown hardship for only some Americans.
“We cannot leave any American behind at this critical moment — we must reopen the entire government and prevent costs for Americans from exploding because of Republican action,” said a memo obtained by CNN from Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel.
Before the vote, Schumer said Democrats would agree to end the shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, an issue that has become the main sticking point in the shutdown impasse.
“The Democrats are offering a very simple compromise,” Schumer said, as dozens of Democratic senators sat alongside him. “Now the ball is in the Republicans’ court. We need Republicans to just say yes.”
But Senate Republicans, who said they would not negotiate health care subsidies until the government was open, quickly dismissed the offer as unserious.
“I think everyone who’s been following this knows it’s a failure,” Thune told reporters. “The extension of Obamacare is the negotiation. That’s what we’re going to negotiate once the government opens up.”
At the Capitol, the mood among Republicans is one of exasperation. Many — including Thune — felt blindsided by Democrats’ abrupt abandonment of bipartisan talks this week. They want Trump to put clearer pressure on Democrats — rather than just asking his own party to end the filibuster.
The House, meanwhile, has been out of session since September 19, with Republican lawmakers growing increasingly agitated and frustrated at home in their districts. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he won’t bring the House back until Senate Democrats agree to reopen the government, preventing votes, hearings and most important committee work.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, said he “literally begged” Democrats to support the federal workers’ wage bill and fought to convince his fellow Republican senators to add furloughed workers to the measure.
“If you’re going to force them to work, at a minimum, let’s make sure you pay them. And pay them on time,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t that simple… But ultimately we overcame the objections at our conference… We have now completely amended the bill. We have added furloughed workers.”
A visibly frustrated Thune spoke before Friday’s vote to blame Democrats for blocking the bill.
“Everyone in this chamber is going to know on the record whether or not they want to pay federal employees,” Thune said. “I’m tired of political games, I really am.”
