Government shutdown enters 3rd day as Senate stalemate over Obamacare subsidies drags on

The federal government entered its third day of a shutdown without a clear off-ramp in sight as the Senate gears up to once again vote on a short-term funding extension Friday.

Lawmakers will again vote on the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR) and congressional Democrats’ counter-proposal on Friday. There’s been little movement on Capitol Hill since the last failed vote, given that some either left Washington, D.C., or did not come to the Hill, in observance of Yom Kippur.

In fact, the Senate floor was open for less than three hours on Thursday, with only a handful of lawmakers giving remarks to a mostly empty chamber.

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Republicans hope that more Senate Democrats will peel off and vote for their bill, but it’s unlikely. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most of his caucus are firmly rooted in their position that expiring Obamacare tax credits must be dealt with now.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he isn’t planning on keeping lawmakers in town over the weekend if the House GOP’s bill fails for a fourth time. Still, bipartisan talks are happening among the rank-and-file members to find some way to reopen the government.

“I’m glad that people are talking,” Thune said. “I think there are a lot of Democrats who want out of this, you know, grapple that Schumer is running now, so I’m hoping that perhaps that will lead somewhere. But it all starts with what I’ve said before, reopen the government, and I think that’s what we got to have … happen first.”

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There are some ideas being tossed back and forth among Senate Republicans and Democrats, like agreeing to work on the subsidies until Nov. 21 under the GOP plan, or compromising on a shorter CR that lasts until Nov. 1 to coincide with the beginning of open-enrollment for Obamacare.

“We’re not asking for a full repair of a broken system,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. “We understand how badly the healthcare system is working, but it’s going to be so much worse if the Republicans continue on this path of cutting healthcare for millions of Americans.”

Thune threw cold water on the latter idea.

“Well, and what’s the House going to come back and vote on, a one-month as opposed to seven weeks? I mean, think about this right now. We’re really kind of quibbling over pretty, pretty small stuff,” he said.

Schumer made clear over the last several days that he wants bipartisan negotiations to craft a funding extension with Democratic and Republican input, but the GOP argues that their bill, which is backed by President Donald Trump, would unlock future bipartisan negotiations on spending bills.

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But Republicans argue that his insistence on negotiating is more about political optics than actually finding a path out of the shutdown.

“This Democrat shutdown is nothing but a cynical political shutdown, with Senator Schumer kowtowing to his radical left-wing extremists,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said on the Senate floor. “He’s desperately recoiling, fighting to stave off a primary and to save his party from the piranhas in their own midst.”

And while talks at the lower level are ongoing, some contend that ultimately it will be Trump’s decision on what happens next.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on the Senate floor, “Unfortunately, right now, our Republican colleagues are not working with us to find a bipartisan agreement to prevent the government shutdown and address the healthcare crisis.”

“We know that even when they float ideas, which we surely do appreciate, in the end, the president appears to make the call,” Klobuchar said.