Senate votes down two bills to end shutdown; House Dems to offer new plan

WASHINGTON — The Senate blocked two competing bills Thursday to reopen the federal government, demonstrating that neither President Trump nor the Democrats has produced a plan so far that can end the nation’s longest government shutdown.

The twin failures came on the shutdown’s 34th day, and were the first Senate votes to address the crisis that’s deprived 800,000 federal workers of paychecks while undermining crucial government services across the nation. The failure of both bills was expected, and the path forward is now uncertain. But there was a recognition on all sides that some new solution must now emerge if the shutdown is to end.

In one potentially hopeful sign, Democrats in the House plan to unveil a border security proposal of their own on Friday that’s expected to meet or exceed the $5.7 billion Trump has demanded to build new walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. The House Democratic proposal will not allocate any money for the wall, but the large new sum being put on the table could form the basis for some kind of compromise.

And in the Senate, bipartisan groups of senators continued to meet behind the scenes to discuss a larger deal that could offer an exit ramp, potentially one including greater protections for certain groups of immigrants.

“I would urge all of our colleagues now that we’ve had these two failed votes,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, “we know we’re right where we started when we got here today, that we work together to try to bridge our differences to build consensus and end this shutdown.”

The first bill the Senate defeated was a proposal from Trump to reopen the government through Sept. 30 while spending $5.7 billion to erect more than 200 miles of new border walls, clamp down on asylum seekers and provide temporary deportation relief to about 1 million unauthorized immigrants whose protections Trump previously had sought to end.

The vote was 51-47, short of the 60 votes needed to advance. GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas voted with the majority of Democrats against the plan, while Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., joined Republicans in supporting it.

The second vote was on a short-term spending bill from Democrats that would have reopened the government through Feb. 8 without any additional wall money, to allow for negotiations on border security with the government open. Both bills contained billions for hurricane and wildfire disaster relief, although the figure in the Democratic bill was higher because it included aid to Puerto Rico that Trump has opposed.

The vote on the Democrats’ bill was 52-44, also short of 60, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, and Mitt Romney of Utah defying Trump to join all Democrats in voting in favor.

The votes unfolded as a couple dozen House Democrats crowded into the Senate chamber to watch, including many of the newly arrived freshmen who flipped the House from GOP control only to arrive in Washington in the midst of a government shutdown they have limited ability to solve.

Afterward, a bipartisan group of 16 senators began to take turns speaking on the Senate floor to call for reopening the government for three weeks while finding a compromise on border security - a solution the White House has rejected in the past.

“We just had two messaging votes, both of those votes failed,” said Murkowski, one of the lawmakers. “My message to people is don’t give up hope because now is the time that we all must come together to address these issues. But you can’t do it when the government is shut down.”

Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., also spoke, saying: “We have to be able to do this.”

The developments came as federal employee unions issued renewed warnings about impacts on federal services, including air travel. At the same time, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross questioned why federal workers are visiting food banks during the partial government shutdown, saying they should instead seek low-interest loans from banks and credit unions to supplement their lost wages.

“I know they are, and I don’t really quite understand why,” Ross said on CNBC when asked about federal workers going to food banks. Ross is a billionaire and a longtime friend of Trump.

His comment drew immediate criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“Is this the ‘let them eat cake’ kind of attitude?” she said. “Or call your father for money?”