Senate Democrats are rejecting for the 10th time a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government.

Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time Thursday a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits.

The vote failed Thursday morning on a 51-45 vote, well short of the 60 needed to advance with the Senate’s filibuster rules.

The repetition of votes on the funding bill has become a daily drumbeat in Congress, underscoring how intractable the situation has become. It has been at times the only item on the agenda for the Senate floor, while House Republicans have left Washington altogether. The standoff has lasted over two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, even more without a guaranteed payday and Congress essentially paralyzed.

  • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
    51·
    2 days ago

    I don’t think that’s right, I’m pretty sure any kind of budget resolution (continuing or no) has to have 60 votes under current Senate rules. Once they’ve got that bottom line resolution passed then they’re able to use reconciliation on individual components of the budget to move monies around (so long as they end up at the same bottom line) and pass those with only 50 votes, but establishing that bottom line still requires 60.

    Best source I could find at the moment for this is a publication I haven’t heard of before tbh, but it’s being rehosted by MSN so it’s most likely somewhat legit, and this all sounds like stuff I’ve read before,

    First, the House and Senate must agree to a budget resolution, which sets overall spending and revenue targets. Then, bills advanced in the name of “reconciling” tax and spending practices with that budget resolution need only a simple majority vote to win approval in the Senate. There are limits on what qualifies for reconciliation and on how many bills can be deemed as reconciliation each year.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-senate-republicans-need-reconciliation-to-fund-trump-s-agenda/ar-AA1y4YRk (arc)

    • PowerCrazy@lemmy.mlEnglish
      21·
      1 day ago

      60 vote “requirement” isn’t real. It can be overturned with a simple majority. It exists to give an excuse to democrats to not do anything. The republicans have and will create an exception whenever it is convenient for them. But they are perfectly fine with furloughing the services part of the government. But worry not, ICE and DoD contracts will still be paid.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
      31·
      2 days ago

      It’s been true since the budget reconciliation act of 1974 was put into place: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R40480

      The year started October 1st. 20 hours later they could have passed it through the senate.

      Government “shutdowns” didn’t exist before then as they do now.

      Where they did it for the Big Stupid Bill: https://www.naco.org/news/us-congress-passes-reconciliation-bill-what-it-means-counties

      Edit: also if you read the article you posted, it states they could use reconciliation to get around the 60 vote necessity.