Talks stall on ending shutdown, as Senate to vote again on paying federal workers

The Senate will vote for a second time Friday on legislation to pay all federal employees who have gone without compensation during the shutdown, as hopes fade for a bipartisan resolution to the 38-day impasse.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, had been planning to hold a test vote Friday on a new spending package containing three full-year spending bills and a stopgap for the remaining nine government funding measures.

That vote is being postponed because of the breakdown in bipartisan negotiations. Mr. Thune said the Senate will instead vote Friday on a bill to pay government workers, and stay through the weekend in hopes of reviving talks on ending the shutdown.

The Senate voted two weeks ago on a bill to pay essential federal workers who’ve been working without paychecks. The 54-45 vote fell short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster, with only three Democrats joining all Republicans in support.

Democrats instead pushed for alternative legislation to also include pay for furloughed employees and provisions to prevent the Trump administration from laying off federal workers. Republicans blocked it.

Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, has since amended his bill to pay essential federal workers to include compensation for furloughed workers. It covers not only this shutdown, but any future ones.  

Mr. Johnson tried Friday to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat, objected. 

“I’m concerned that Senator Johnson’s bill still leaves too much discretion up to President Trump,” Mr. Peters said. “There’s too much wiggle room for the administration to basically pick and choose which federal employees are paid and when. And I’m deeply concerned that this would allow the administration to actually transfer this money to other purposes that are unintended by Congress, which unfortunately we have seen happen repeatedly.” 

Mr. Peters offered an alternative measure to provide back pay for federal workers only through the duration of the current shutdown. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Thune objected, arguing federal workers should be paid moving forward as well. 

“We won’t allow them to be held hostage and be pawns in a political game in the future,” Mr. Thune said.

Mr. Thune said the Senate will hold a roll call vote later Friday to take up Mr. Johnson’s amended bill. 

It’s unclear if enough Democrats will vote for it, now that federal workers have gone more than a month without pay during the record-breaking shutdown.

A bipartisan group of senators earlier this week had been discussing a deal to reopen the government with the new spending package in which Republicans would give Democrats a future Senate vote on their plan to extend enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies set to expire this year.

But Senate Democrats met as a caucus Thursday and decided they want to hold out for a better deal, one that will ensure Congress passes a law to extend the Obamacare subsidy expansion — first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic — rather than simply holding a vote that might fail.

“All I know is that the pep rally they had at lunch [Thursday] evidently changed some minds,” Mr. Thune said. “I thought we were on a track to give them everything they wanted or had asked for.”

The Senate GOP leader repeated his view that Democrats “need to take yes for an answer” and said he felt “they were trending in that direction” before “the wheels came off” on Thursday.

Mr. Thune is keeping the Senate in session over the weekend in hopes that enough Democrats will change their minds. He said a vote on the new spending plan is possible, but not scheduled yet.

“We will see what happens and whether or not, over the course of the next couple of days, the Democrats can find a way to re-engage again,” Mr. Thune said.