Senate Democrats once again blocked Republican efforts to reopen the federal government on Thursday, rejecting a continuing resolution for the seventh time as the shutdown drags into its ninth day and deadlines loom for the military’s payroll.
The impasse, fueled by Democrats’ demand for permanent Obamacare subsidies, is now threatening the paychecks of U.S. service members.
Unless Congress passes funding by October 13, the Pentagon will not be able to process payments, and troops will miss their first paycheck of the shutdown.
Senate staffers will follow soon after, with their next payday scheduled for October 20.
Despite those consequences, Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have shown no signs of compromise.
“We Democrats want to end this shutdown as quickly as we can,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“But Donald Trump and Republicans need to negotiate with us in a serious way to fix the healthcare premiums crisis.”
Republicans counter that Democrats are holding hostage military families and federal workers to secure a partisan healthcare bailout.
GOP Warns of “Hostage Tactics”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) reiterated that Republicans have offered a straightforward bill to fund the government through November 21.
Thune noted that negotiations on healthcare can happen only after the government is open.
“They just simply want a guaranteed outcome, which we can’t guarantee,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).
“If they end the shutdown, then we can get back to work … but at this stage of the game, until they end the shutdown, there’s not much we can do.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have made clear they will not provide the votes to reopen the government unless Obamacare subsidies are addressed up front.
The “No Kings” Rally Shadow
Some Republicans have accused Senate Democrats of deliberately dragging out the shutdown until an upcoming left-wing protest, the “No Kings” rally set for October 18 in Washington, D.C.
Rounds told Fox News that Democrat leaders appear to be “keeping this going through until this left-wing protest occurs a week from Saturday.”
GOP leaders in both chambers have seized on the rally date as evidence that Democrats are prolonging the crisis for political optics.
Democrats have dismissed the claim as “desperation.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “They are losing this fight.
“The people know that they’re to blame …
“Republicans are desperate for a new narrative.”
Military Families at Risk
Republicans argue Democrats’ stonewalling is particularly egregious with military pay on the line.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said there is no excuse for Democrats refusing to fund government operations at levels they themselves supported in prior years.
“Why on earth should we give them any kind of political cover or leverage, when they should have never — Chuck Schumer should have never led this conference into this sort of quagmire,” Tillis said.
With both sides dug in, the pressure is now squarely on Democrats.
If no deal is reached before October 13, service members who signed up to defend the nation could be the first to pay the price for Schumer’s shutdown strategy.
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