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democrat on thursday blocking law proposed A conservative Republican senator called for paying some federal employees, such as the military, during the government shutdown, arguing that it would let President Donald Trump choose who gets paid or not.
The Senate voted 54-45 on legislation introduced by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to pay excepted federal employees — who must keep working even if the checks are cut — for the 23rd day of the government shutdown.
Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, as well as Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, all voted with Republicans on the potential seats, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune – seeing that the bill would not pass – changed his vote to “no” to allow the measure to be reintroduced in the future.
But most Democratic senators objected to the fact that the legislation would only allow “excluded” federal employees, as defined by the Office of Personnel Management, to be paid during the shutdown.
“I would say it, ‘Let the President decide who he wants to pay,'” said Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.). Independent After the vote.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the legislation in the House.
“That’s not how you govern,” he said before the vote. “But it seems like that’s the way Trump is going to govern. Our bill is a counterweight to the terrible methods that Trump uses when he picks winners and losers who he likes and hates.”
During the shutdown, Democrats pointed out how Trump has allowed Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to determine which projects to cancel and whether to fire federal workers. Just this week, Trump compared Vought to Darth Vader,
Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) echoed this sentiment because he represents many federal employees.
“Would you trust Russ Watt to decide who gets paid and who doesn’t get paid?” Warner told Independent“The law is that everyone should get paid.”
Democrats attempted to advance their own legislation, sponsored by Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), to pay all federal employees, but that legislation was blocked.
Van Hollen said he and Johnson began speaking about reaching an agreement after the vote ended.
“Federal workers have not been laid off in any previous shutdown, whether they were a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, and so we want that protection,” Van Hollen said.
Johnson seemed optimistic about the future chances of passing the bill.
“I’m swinging my arms, but we’ll see,” he said. Independent,
The vote came as Democrats continued to block a stopgap continuation resolution to reopen the government as they hope Republicans will renew the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits for health insurance marketplaces.
So far, the president has rebuked the Democrats. Just this week, he said he would not meet with Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries until the government reopens,
Before the vote, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) suggested that if the vote fails, Republicans should consider getting rid of the filibuster. He later said Republicans should consider it.
“Everyone has to introspect to know what we really want to do,” he said. IndependentThe freshman suggested Republicans change the rules to allow the filibuster limit to be lowered to 55 votes instead of 60 and stipulate that it cannot be used to increase taxes or spending.
“But this is a new man’s perspective,” he said. “There are a lot of people who are smarter and have been here longer, so they have other perspectives.”