Senate Democrats block GOP plan again to reopen government as military pay deadline looms

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ plan to reopen the government for a seventh time on Thursday as payday deadlines fast approach for the military.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most of his caucus have so far shown no signs of breaking from their position as the shutdown entered its ninth day. Republicans are also similarly unwilling to relent, further solidifying the stalemate in the upper chamber.

But a key deadline that lawmakers must hit to ensure that service members get their paychecks is fast approaching and will likely be missed unless a deal is struck.

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Lawmakers have until Oct. 13, the deadline to process payments for the military’s payroll, to fund the government, or service members will miss their first paycheck. Senate staff members are soon after, with their next expected payday coming Oct. 20.

Those looming deadlines have not made either side flinch, however.

“I’m concerned about everybody going without pay. We need to open the government back up, and I think people need to sit down and talk to each other,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said. “And so far, the president has been unwilling to talk, leadership in both houses have been unwilling to talk, and this is Day 19 of the speaker not being willing to bring the House back.”

The Senate is also scheduled for a recess starting next week, which is expected to be canceled. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said whether lawmakers are in town is up to Senate Democrats. 

“Well, it depends on the Democrats, but at the moment, it’s looking that way,” Thune said. 

Both party’s positions have remained the same. Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits, and they want an ironclad deal addressing those subsidies first before giving Thune the votes he needs to reopen the government.

“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.”

But Senate Republicans are adamant that those conversations and negotiations can happen only after the government is reopened. They also want reforms to the COVID-19 era program, which they charge has been inflationary and helped lead to an increase in healthcare premium prices.

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Both Shaheen and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., have been heavily involved in bipartisan talks that have gone on throughout the shutdown. Those chats have been little more than informal conversations, however, and have yet to make the leap to full-blown negotiations.

“They just simply want a guaranteed outcome, which we can’t guarantee,” Rounds told Fox News Digital. “Everything’s got to work its way through the process. If they end the shutdown, then we can get back to work on actually doing a process that might be, you know, something that they would feel good about. But at this stage of the game, until they end the shutdown, there’s not much we can do.”

While positions remain unchanged, the talking points on Capitol Hill have begun to morph. Republicans are now alleging that Senate Democrats are holding out their votes to reopen the government until an Oct. 18 “No Kings” rally in Washington, D.C.

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“The most frustrating part is the fact that there’s clearly some movement on their side, among their leadership team to keep this going through until this left-wing protest occurs a week from this Saturday,” Rounds said.

Republican leadership in both chambers have pounced on that date, too, and it has become a common talking point among the GOP in recent days. Democrats have rejected the new messaging strategy.

“They all got instructed, they’re losing. They are losing this fight,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “The people know that they’re to blame. They’re worried about their premium increases, and so Republicans are desperate for a new narrative.”

Still, Republicans are hopeful that more than the same consistent trio of Democratic caucus members will join them to reopen the government as Thune continues his war of attrition style plan of bringing the same bill back again and again to the Senate floor.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said there are plenty of Senate Democrats not up for reelection to “walk the plank like I have multiple times” to help the GOP and fund the government.

“And then the discussions start, that simple,” he said. “And 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, when all we were asking that they do is fund the government at current levels and basically do what they’ve done before, because they voted for these funding levels before.”