Senate to vote Friday on pathway to end shutdown

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is set to hold a vote Friday with an eye toward ending the government shutdown.

The GOP leader told lawmakers over a conference lunch that he will hold another vote on the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) that has failed to advance 14 times so far. This time, however, Thune is putting it on the floor with an eye toward amending it to attach a three-bill spending package — known as a minibus — that has been part of negotiations with Democrats, one Senate GOP aide said. 

The bill would also include a new end date of sometime in January, rather than Nov. 21 included in the House-passed measure.

Also at the center of bipartisan negotiations has been a vote on the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. It is unclear what that commitment or vote would look like. 

The package is expected to take days to clear due to objections, potentially on both sides of the aisle. 

“We’ll find out how serious the Democrats are or not,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said after lunch.

Whether enough Democrats jump on board to advance the measure is a real question, though. They were mum on how they would proceed following a lengthy caucus lunch Thursday. 

Numerous Senate Democrats told reporters that the party was unified — but declined to say what they were unified behind. Some indicated it was a continuation of their status quo posture.

“It was a great discussion, and we’re unified that we want to bring down health care costs,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said.

Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.), who has been part of the Democratic negotiating group, called the discussion the “best meeting we’ve had.”

“Why? Because it was very productive … to getting us in the same direction,” he said.

Democrats involved in the talks had indicated earlier in the day that they weren’t terribly optimistic about finding a resolution in short order.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), a prominent figure in the shutdown talks, said prior to lunch that he did not expect a bipartisan deal in the near-term. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Peters said when asked if lawmakers are close to ending of the shutdown. “We have to make sure we have a deal that we can get broad support for.”

The Michigan Democrat also labeled Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) refusal to guarantee a vote to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies “a significant problem.”

Emily Brooks contributed. Last updated at 4:47 p.m. EDT