The House is currently set to vote on a “clean” spending bill on Thursday, aimed at funding the government until November 27th. However, to get the bill passed, Republicans are in talks with several key figures. They can only afford to lose two votes if they’re to pass it without Democratic support. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed his confidence in keeping all Democrats united against the bill, emphasizing its importance for the Democratic Caucus on Thursday.
Yet, the vote in the House isn’t guaranteed. It could easily be delayed until Friday. If the House does pass a funding package, it still needs to make its way through the Senate, potentially needing two rounds of cloture to overcome a filibuster, which requires 60 votes. For Senate Republicans, getting the House’s approval on Thursday would be beneficial, allowing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to expedite the process for a test vote on Saturday. Generally, the Senate requires an “intervention date” to vote on such procedural matters.
If hypothetically the House passes the bill on Thursday, Thune would then move to block any objections and push for cloture to break the filibuster. Should the House delay its vote to Friday, the Senate’s discussions would not take place until Sunday.
There’s a complication, as several Senate Republicans are planning to attend a funeral in Arizona on Sunday—meaning a Saturday vote would be more favorable for them.
So, why not just wait until Monday? Well, both the House and the Senate have Rosh Hashanah observances starting Monday evening and lasting until Wednesday evening. If the Senate delays until Thursday, it could extend the discussion further without resolution. However, there’s also talk that the Senate may remain in session during Rosh Hashanah to tackle procedural votes, which might be seen as a slight against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Time is of the essence, as the government is set to be funded only until 11:59 p.m. ET on September 30th. There’s still a small window, but with a scheduled break next week, urgency is heightened. The Republicans hold 53 seats, but they need 60 votes to thwart a filibuster, which could make things tricky, especially if even one Republican, like Senator Rand Paul, opts to oppose the spending bill.
The current strategy involves placing the blame for any potential government shutdown on the Democrats, while the Democrats insist that they want something—perhaps an update to Obamacare subsidies—in return for their support. More developments are likely as the month closes out.
