Senators first voted on the dueling measures to fund the government on Sept. 19, after the House passed the GOP-led bill that would fund the government until Nov. 21. The Democratic proposal, which no Republicans have supported, would fund the government until Oct. 31 and extend health insurance tax credits that Democrats have made a top priority.
On Tuesday, with hours before the funding deadline, the Republican proposal picked up support from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, and Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who had previously supported the measure, also voted in favor.
Republicans had been hoping to gain more Democratic support in Wednesday’s vote, but the outcome remained unchanged at 55 to 45. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who has consistently opposed stopgap measures to keep the government funded, again voted against it.
Senate Republicans are seeking to peel off more Democrats to support their proposal with Friday’s vote.
“They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to open up the government,” Thune said. “And if that fails, then we’ll give them the weekend to think about it, we’ll come back and we’ll vote again on Monday.”
On Thursday, the Senate was briefly in session, but held no votes as senators observed Yom Kippur.
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