The Senate attempted to pass a short-term funding bill for the 13th time on Tuesday, and for the 13th time it failed, with most Democrats continuing to oppose the measure.
Needing 60 votes to advance, the vote on the House-passed bill that would fund the government until November 21 was 54-45. All Republicans except Sen. Rand Paul backed the legislation, while all Democrats except Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and John Fetterman, as well as independent Sen. Angus King, voted against it. Republican Sen. Jim Justice did not vote.
The failed vote comes amid signs that the four-week-old government shutdown is causing a growing number of problems throughout the country. On Tuesday, a group of states sued the Trump administration seeking to maintain funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which will start running out of money this weekend. Dozens of Head Start programs around the country could shut down as soon as Saturday due to a lack of funding. And a spokesperson for air traffic controllers warned that “problems are mounting daily” in the nation’s transportation system.
One group that may receive federal payments is the military. “We believe that we can continue to pay the troops on Friday,” Vice President JD Vance said after meeting with Senate Republicans Tuesday afternoon. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to pay everybody, because we’ve been handed a very bad hand by the Democrats.”
No SNAP rescue: Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans Tuesday that he does not plan to offer a bill funding the country’s main food aid program, which faces a shortfall in many states starting November 1.
“Things are getting real,” Johnson reportedly told his caucus, adding, “The pain register is about to hit level 10.”
As Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reports, Johnson encouraged Republicans to stick together and continue to blame Democrats for any problems that emerge for the roughly 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP to supplement their food budgets.
No pay for air traffic controllers: Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told reporters Tuesday that his union wants the funding lapse affecting his members and airports around the country to end immediately. Air traffic controllers, who missed their first full paychecks on Tuesday, are currently working without pay, and flight delays due to staffing shortages are becoming more frequent as the shutdown drags on.
“Whatever the means are, whatever the way that they get it done, that’s what the American people deserve, that’s what the flying public deserves and especially our air traffic controllers,” Daniels said. “There is no other solution.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy dimmed hopes that the Trump administration might find a way to pay air traffic controllers, even if the larger shutdown continues. Needing roughly $500 million to cover monthly pay, Duffy told reporters that he had examined the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget looking for funds that could be redirected, but “there’s not a lot of leeway that we have to get people paid.”
“The answer is open up the government,” Duffy added.
No pressure for Democrats: As we told you yesterday, the largest union representing federal workers has called on lawmakers to pass a funding bill, but so far, Democrats are resisting any pressure they may feel to change their stance on the shutdown.
Masto, one of the few Democrats who has voted in favor of the GOP’s short-term funding bill, told reporters that she doubted that the union’s appeals would tip the scales. “We will see,” she said.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who represents thousands of federal employees in Maryland, continued to lay the blame for the shutdown on the leader of the Republicans. “The way to bring it to the end is for President Trump to spend a little less time talking to foreign leaders and a little more time talking to leaders right here to reopen the government,” he said.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who also represents thousands of government workers, suggested that any deal with Republicans could backfire. “The AFGE would not want us to cut a deal and then have Trump fire a bunch of people next week,” he said, referring to the employee union. “If we cut a deal and then he did that, they would come to us and say, ‘What the hell were you guys thinking?’”
Still, the appeal from the union could be the first crack in Democratic unity. “It has a lot of impact,” Democratic Whip Sen. Dick Durbin said. “They’ve been our friends.” Durbin, however, said he would continue to oppose the Republican plan to end the shutdown.
No ‘rifle shots’: Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed reservations about efforts to provide funding for specific programs through stand-alone bills. “[T]here’s not a high level of interest in doing carve outs, or so-called ‘rifle shots,’” Thune told reporters Tuesday. “I think most people realize the way to get out of this mess is to vote to open up the government.”
Some Democrats have reportedly expressed support for legislation to fund SNAP being developed by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, but comments from Republican leaders today have thrown cold water on the idea.
No firing federal workers: Although the Trump administration has claimed that shutdown-driven budget constraints are forcing it to fire federal workers, a federal judge put a temporary halt to layoffs two weeks ago. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston extended the halt indefinitely.
In court, the Trump administration argued that it has the authority to fire federal workers whenever it wants to, and that layoffs during a shutdown are good policy. “If you don't have money coming in, you should be looking for ways to cut costs," said Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik.
The attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, which include federal employee unions, argued that lapses in funding do not eliminate the statutory authority of Congress, which mandated that the positions be created in the first place.
In her ruling delivered from the bench, Illston referred to testimonies from federal employees who have received layoff notices, including one from a military veteran who said the threatened layoffs were more traumatic than actual combat. "Human lives are being dramatically affected by the activities we're discussing," the judge said.