(The Epoch Times)—Lawmakers have no clear path to avoiding a government shutdown that will occur at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 without congressional action.
Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over a proposed stopgap spending bill after a Sept. 29 meeting between Congressional leaders and President Donald Trump proved fruitless.
Republicans want to pass what they call a clean continuing resolution (CR), which extends current spending for another seven weeks with no substantial changes. That time is needed, they say, to complete the regular appropriations process, which involves passing 12 appropriations bills in each chamber.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on Sept. 29: “Republicans are united to keep the government open. All it takes is Senate Democrats agreeing to the clean, nonpartisan CR already sitting at the Senate desk.”
In support of that idea, Vice President JD Vance noted on Sept. 29 that the Senate has already passed three appropriations bills with bipartisan support.
Democrats have said they will not support any funding resolution that does not address their concerns about health care spending.
“If the government shuts down, it’s because Republicans would rather shut it down rather than help people afford health care,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Sept. 29.
A key issue for Democrats is the extension of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expanded premium tax credits, which function as subsidies that help some 20 million middle-income people pay for health insurance. Other demands appear aimed at dismantling health care spending changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in July.
The Republican-controlled House passed a continuing resolution on Sept. 19.
That measure failed in the Senate the same day, where Republicans required seven Democratic or Independent votes, in addition to their 53 seats, to reach the three-fifths threshold, 60 votes, to avoid a filibuster. A Democrat-backed resolution also failed.
Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the Republican-backed resolution.
Murkowski stated her support for extending the ACA expanded premium tax credits, as well as restoring some funds to wind down operations of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which will cease most operations on Sept. 30.
Paul is a fiscal hawk and a longtime opponent of continuing resolutions. “Missing appropriation deadlines has consequences,” Paul said in a 2018 statement.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote for the Republican proposal on Sept. 19. He also voted for the failed Democrat-backed alternative.
Fetterman said he is unequivocally opposed to allowing any government shutdown. “I refuse to vote to shut our government down, and that’s not going to change,” Fetterman told reporters on Sept. 29.
“If [you] want to change policies, win elections,” Fetterman said, adding that while Democrats’ objectives may be desirable, allowing a government shutdown was the wrong way to pursue them. Democrats are currently the minority in both chambers.
Democrats have stated their cause as fighting for the health care of the American people. “It’s about people losing the care they count on every single day,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters on Sept. 29. “We’re just asking them to restore the money that they’ve already taken away from the American people.”
Some health-related elements of the Big Beautiful Bill are now in effect. Most will be rolled out over the next five years.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said a rollback of the Big Beautiful Bill was a nonstarter. “If my Democratic colleagues shut [the government] down, I assume they have a plan for getting it back open. But if their plan requires us to rescind the One Big Beautiful Bill, that’ll happen when donkeys fly backwards.”
“This is purely a political shutdown,” Kennedy added.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) voiced optimism about striking an agreement.
“I think if we [focus on] the people rather than the politicians, we’ll come up with a bipartisan deal. Everybody will walk away a little bit unhappy but the people in the state of Georgia will be better off,” Warnock said on Sept. 29.
In the event of a government shutdown, nonessential personnel are furloughed without pay. A 2019 law requires that they receive back pay when funding is restored.
Service members would be required to work without pay during the shutdown. Social Security checks will continue to be issued.
Nathan Worcester and Stacy Robinson contributed to this report.
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