A bill to prevent a partial government shutdown Friday night is facing delays in the Senate due to disagreements between the parties, but is slowly progressing towards a final vote.
Unless everyone agrees or the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Republicans come to an agreement, the Senate may not be able to vote on the final passage until Saturday, after the government shutdown deadline but before the effects of a shutdown are felt.
On Friday, the Senate approved a procedural step with a vote of 63-35, but disagreements between the two sides could delay the final passage; 34 Republicans opposed moving the measure forward.
Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told reporters on Friday that the path forward for the funding package has become a bit complicated.
Conservatives, including GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Ted Budd (N.C.) and Rick Scott (Fla.), are insisting on several amendment votes.
Budd described an amendment he's advocating for that targets undocumented immigrants who have committed a crime.
He explained, “That is if you assault a law enforcement officer and you’re here illegally, then it clarifies judicial discretion and says that it says that you will be deported.”
Lee also mentioned another amendment proposed by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) that would exclude undocumented immigrants from the official U.S. Census apportionment count.
He said, “That would simply say that, for purposes of the congressional apportionment count of the census required by Article 1 of the Constitution, that the apportionment count must not include persons here unlawfully; illegal aliens shouldn’t be included in the apportionment count.”
It was not expected that any of the amendments would be approved by the Democratic-led Senate, but they come as conservatives have been very upset about the size of the funding plan, which was passed in a bipartisan vote in the House earlier this week.
The package includes over $450 billion in funding for the departments of Veterans Affairs; Agriculture; Interior; Transportation; Housing and Urban Development; Justice; Commerce; and Energy.
The six government funding bills together make up the first group of twelve that lawmakers are aiming to pass this month for fiscal 2024.
Senators are optimistic about being able to pass the bill before the midnight deadline.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) stated on Friday when asked about the chances of a funding lapse this weekend, that he doesn’t think anyone wants a shutdown, although he also admitted to voting against advancing the bill in favor of what he called “an open amendment process.”
He added that the recent vote indicates that there might not be any amendment votes.
He said, “So, I assume once the realization sinks in that there’s probably not going to be any changes to the bill that hopefully will move up the vote and not delay the inevitable.”
