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The Senate is set to leave town on Friday until early next week as neither side is ready to give in the ongoing government shutdown stalemate.
Lawmakers voted deep into the night on Thursday on the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which advanced on a largely bipartisan vote. But the $925 billion package, which authorizes funding for the Pentagon, was effectively the last hurrah for the week in the upper chamber.
While there was discussion of putting the House GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), along with congressional Democrats’ counter-proposal, on the floor for one last vote, the plan never came to fruition. Both would likely have failed for an eighth consecutive time.
SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN AGAIN TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS MILITARY PAY DEADLINE LOOMS
The Senate is leaving Washington, D.C., for the weekend as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans work to peel more Democrats to support their plan to reopen the government. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Senate Republicans and Democrats will instead return on Tuesday next week, after observing Columbus Day, to continue the ongoing back and forth on the GOP’s CR following a week of trying and failing to pass the bill and reopen the government.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to continue bringing the Republicans’ bill to the floor in an effort to fragment Senate Democrats. So far, only three Democratic caucus members have consistently split from their largely unified party.
Talks have continued in the background behind closed-doors, but nothing has quite yet materialized into full-blown negotiations on expiring Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), tax credits to find an off-ramp as the government shutdown barrels into a third week.
“The ACA issue is important to a lot of us, not just to Democrats,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. “The tax subsidies were enhanced during COVID. They do need to…
