A wall of unanimous opposition began to crumble this week when three Democrats in the U.S. Senate broke with their party to support a Republican-backed plan to reopen the federal government.
The shutdown, now in its seventh day, is approaching the first missed paychecks for the federal workforce, increasing pressure on both parties to reach a solution before tens or hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees can no longer pay their bills. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), as recently as Monday, urged his colleagues to “fight” for Obamacare subsidies that Republicans are seeking to debate in a standalone package.
Gridlock has prevented Republican Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) from securing the 60 votes needed to pass a short-term government funding bill, but signs of concession emerged on Tuesday with news that Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Angus King (I-ME) signed on to Republicans’ plan for a clean spending plan, Politico reported.
Multiple rounds of voting have resulted in a 55-45 finish, putting Thune still five votes shy of his goal.
Fetterman has been supportive of the GOP plan since a first vote was held on Sept. 19.
“Shutting our government down isn’t a ‘game.’ Democrat or Republican, regardless of the reason— America loses. ‘Blame’ is on anyone that picks party over country,” Fetterman said on X on Friday.
That same day, Cortez Mastro said Republicans “need to come to the negotiating table and fix the health care crisis they’ve created.”
But on Tuesday, the Nevada Democrat explained her switched stance, saying her party “should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another.”
“President Trump and Congressional Republicans are already hurting Nevadans who are dealing with high costs, an economic slowdown, and a looming health care crisis. This administration doesn’t care about Nevadans, but I do,” she wrote on X. “That’s why I cannot support a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration. We need a bipartisan solution to address this impending health care crisis, but we should not be swapping the pain of one group of Americans for another.”
Tuesday’s vote was the first time that King has sided with Republicans, a vote he said was “one of the most difficult” he has taken since being in the Senate.
“I did not want to hand Donald Trump and Russell Vought and Stephen Miller additional power to decimate the federal government, to decimate the programs that are so important to so many people,” King said in a video posted to X.
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