Senate again fails to advance funding bill as shutdown enters Day 17

Law enforcement officers from the Department of Homeland Security will be paid if they work during the government shutdown, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on X.

That includes "sworn law enforcement officers" from the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Secret Service.

It's not clear who at the TSA will be included in the policy. The agency employs tens of thousands of security officers who work at airport checkpoints, as well as law enforcement personnel like air marshals. CBS News has reached out to DHS and TSA for clarification.

Noem said law enforcement officers will get a "super check" by Oct. 22 that covers four days of lost pay, overtime and their pay for the next pay period.

Members of the military and FBI have also been promised pay during the shutdown. The legal authority to keep paying federal workers remains unsettled.

U.S. Border Patrol agents received guidance Thursday notifying them they will be paid through the government shutdown and classified as "exempt," a Department of Homeland Security official said.

The agents, however, have not yet received back pay, the official added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune's office confirmed that the South Dakota Republican plans to bring up a bill next week that would pay "excepted" federal employees, including active-duty military, who are required to work during the shutdown.

Thune referred to the bill, from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as the "pay everybody" bill.

Typically during a shutdown, some essential federal workers are expected to keep reporting to work, but they don't get paid until after the government reopens. But President Trump has continued to pay members of the military and FBI agents.

By Nikole Killion and Alan He

A frustrated Thune emerged from the Senate chamber this afternoon railing against Democrats for blocking the defense appropriations bill this afternoon.

"Filibustering the defense appropriations bill, which is a bill which, like I said, should get 80-plus votes on the floor, suggests a level of dysfunction that, on their side, right now, that I can't explain," the Senate majority leader told reporters outside of his office. "These are not people who want to get things done. These are people who want to fight Trump and appease the, you know, all the people that are coming into town this weekend."

He reiterated to CBS News that he "will sit down" with other congressional leaders but only after the government reopens.

"I've made that abundantly clear," Thune flatly stated.

The South Dakota Republican also told CBS News it's "unlikely" he'll stay in Washington this weekend, and said lawmakers will have another opportunity to vote on a government funding bill when they return Monday.

The Senate adjourned shortly after the full-year Pentagon funding bill fell short Thursday afternoon.

The chamber is set to reconvene at 3 p.m. on Monday, meaning the shutdown will continue until at least Oct. 20, barring an unforeseen breakthrough.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, called on President Trump to have another meeting with congressional leaders to find a way out of the shutdown.

"Donald Trump needs to reengage now," Jeffries said at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol. "The responsible thing for Donald Trump and House Republicans, along with Senate Republican leaders to do, is for them to sit down so we can work this out in a bipartisan way."

Jeffries asserted that past shutdowns have been resolved when the president and Senate and House leaders sit down to negotiate.

"That's always been the way out," he said.

Jeffries said he has not had a formal conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson during the shutdown, blaming Mr. Trump for allegedly refusing to allow GOP leadership to meet with their Democratic counterparts.

Mr. Trump met with Jeffries, Johnson, Thune and Schumer at the White House on Sept. 29, two days before government funding lapsed.

Thune railed against Democrats on the Senate floor after the vote to advance the Pentagon funding bill fell short, saying
"Democrats just voted against the bill that would actually pay the troops."

"This is politics," an angry Thune said. "If anything was needed to demonstrate just how fundamentally uninterested Democrats are in supporting our troops and defending our country, just take a look at this vote."

The South Dakota Republican said "the Democrat Party is the party that will not take 'yes' for an answer," citing the repeated failed vote on the temporary measure to fund the government, his assertions that he would guarantee a vote on their health care demands and now the Pentagon funding bill.

The vote on advancing the bill to fund the Defense Department failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to invoke cloture, with 50 senators voting in favor and 44 voting against. Three Democrats — Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada — joined Republicans.

The vote stalled Thune's new push to bring up individual funding bills as most Democrats continue to oppose the House-passed funding bill that would extend funding for the government as a whole until Nov. 21. Shaheen has not been among the Democrats who have voted to pass the continuing resolution.

Thune said he hoped to attach other funding bills to the Pentagon measure, but the failed cloture vote forestalls that possibility for now.

Read more here.

The Senate is taking a procedural vote on a year-long funding bill for the Defense Department, as Republicans pursue a new strategy to reopen parts of the government. But with 60 votes needed to move forward with the legislation, support from Democrats is needed.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated ahead of the vote Thursday that Democrats would oppose advancing the legislation, telling reporters at a news conference that "it's always been unacceptable to Democrats to do the Defense bill without other bills that have so many things that are important to the American people, in terms of health care, in terms of housing, in terms of safety."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thune "has not come to me with any proposal" on holding a vote on extending health insurance tax credits. The Senate GOP leader said earlier that he's told Democrats that he can guarantee a vote on the issue — though he can't guarantee an outcome.

Democrats have been pushing for the tax credit extension as a condition for their support to reopen the government. But they've suggested that assurances wouldn't be enough. And House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier Thursday that Schumer had declined the offer from Thune.

"We're not negotiating in public, plain and simple," Schumer said when asked what Democrats need to see from Republicans.

The comments came at a news conference alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries after the two Democrats met. Schumer said "we're on the same page."

"The American people are in a crisis in health care and we are fighting for them — we are on their side," he said.

The Senate failed to advance a House-passed measure to reopen the government for a tenth time in a 51 to 45 vote. Four senators did not vote.

The bill picked up no new support in the tenth vote, despite the GOP effort to get more Democrats to cross the aisle and break with their party to fund the government.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer touted the "No Kings" rallies planned for this weekend, encouraging Americans to speak out and exercise their right to free speech.

"This weekend's 'No Kings' rallies will be an affirmation about what America's all about," Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor.

Schumer said he will join the marchers "to celebrate what makes this country so great."

Republicans have claimed that Democrats are dug in on their shutdown position, suggesting they will remain unmoveable until after the rallies in an appeal to their base. Schumer himself has been under intense pressure to put up a fight against Republicans since he allowed a funding measure to advance in March.

Schumer reiterated Thursday morning that Republicans must negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government, amid their push to extend health insurance tax credits.

"They say there's nothing to negotiate. That's got to change soon. Has to, for the sake of the American people," Schumer said.

The Senate is taking a tenth vote on a House-passed measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. The ninth vote failed to reach the 60 votes needed to advance on Wednesday.

Republicans have failed to win any new support for the measure since the shutdown began. Support from five more Democrats is needed to clear the hurdle, but there are no signs that the dynamics have changed on Day 16 of the shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune encouraged Democrats to allow a full-year Pentagon funding bill to advance in a vote set for this afternoon, telling reporters that if Democrats "want to stop the Defense bill, I don't think it's very good optics for them."

"They've got multiple opportunities to block it on the back end," Thune said. "If I were them, I'd let us get on it, and then let's see if we can add."

The South Dakota Republican said lawmakers want to add appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, noting that a couple of other appropriations bills are available to wrap into a funding package as well.

"We would like to do a package. We'd like to do a mini, like we did before," Thune said, referring to a minibus, or small package of appropriations bills.

Thune said House Speaker Mike Johnson has committed to conferencing on the funding legislation, even if the government remains closed.

"We want to keep the regular order appropriations process going, which means conferencing the mini and getting more bills up on the floor," Thune said. "And that, at least used to be, what the Democrats wanted to do, too. But we'll find out soon enough."

At his daily press conference at the Capitol, Speaker Mike Johnson was noncommittal about the possibility of holding a House vote on extending health care tax credits, saying the issue would be part of the "deliberative process" among members.

A reporter noted that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has offered Democrats a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies for one year, and asked Johnson whether he would commit to a vote in the House.

Johnson said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had declined Thune's offer "because they wanted a guaranteed outcome."

"Here's why we can't do that — let me say this very clearly and for everyone again, OK. The Obamacare subsidy issue is not the issue of today. It is a subsidy that expires Dec. 31," the speaker said. "We were always planning to continue the debate and discussion about that issue in October and November. Ironically, Democrats are taking the time off the clock for us to do that."

He continued: "We have 535 members between the House and Senate. There's a lot of people in this deliberative body here. That's a very complicated issue. It's not something that four people can go into a back room and guarantee an outcome on. It can't be done. It was not possible to be part of this CR, and it's not feasible. It's not appropriate to be in this CR. We require the member-driven consensus process here, and that's what's necessary."

Johnson said "it's not possible for Leader Thune to guarantee to Chuck Schumer some outcome on that, because we haven't finished those deliberations. That's just as simple as it is."

"When Leader Thune offered a vote on the ACA, on the subsidy, without guaranteeing an outcome, Schumer said, nope, no thanks, we'll keep it closed," he added.

Pushed on whether he would commit to bringing up the tax credits for a vote, Johnson reiterated that he couldn't guarantee how the process would play out.

"None of us can guarantee an outcome on that. I have said consistently all along, this is part of the deliberative process. We're going to debate and discuss that," he said.

The Senate will convene at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m., senators will take a procedural vote on the House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government until Nov. 21, along with another procedural vote on a judicial nomination, according to Majority Whip John Barrasso's office.

Then at 1:30 p.m., the Senate will take a procedural vote on the full-year Defense Department funding measure.

The Senate is set to vote today on advancing an individual year-long appropriations bill to fund the Pentagon in a change in approach as the shutdown wears on.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune teed up consideration of the full-year Defense Department appropriations bill earlier this week, and the upper chamber is expected to take a procedural vote on advancing the measure Thursday afternoon.

Read more here.

The Senate is expected to vote late this morning on the measure passed by the House to fund the government until Nov. 21, after the measure fell short for a ninth time Wednesday afternoon.

Republicans have been hoping to pick up new support from Democrats on the measure, but the bill has failed to win any new votes from the minority since before the shutdown began. There are 53 Republicans in the Senate, but because most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the upper chamber, Republicans need support from Democrats to reopen the government.

But today Senate GOP leaders will also try a different approach to restart some funding with a vote Thursday afternoon on advancing a full-year defense appropriations bill. That vote will also require 60 votes, and whether Democrats will support it remains to be seen.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview on MSNBC that aired Thursday morning that he's told Democrats "if you need a vote, we can guarantee you get a vote by a date certain" on their health insurance demands.

The South Dakota Republican added that "at some point, Democrats have to take 'yes' for an answer."

Democrats have made an extension of health insurance tax credits a key condition for their support to reopen the government. But many of them have indicated that assurances from Republicans aren't enough.

Nonetheless, Thune thinks "there's a path forward." He also said that the health insurance tax credits must "include reforms," and he said he couldn't guarantee an outcome on a vote.

"I can't guarantee it's going to pass," he said. "I can guarantee you that there will be a process and you will get a vote."

Asked whether the government shutdown could last through Thanksgiving, Thune told MSNBC, "I hope it doesn't." The House-passed bill, he said, is "the quickest way to end this."

The Trump administration will continue paying FBI agents despite the ongoing government shutdown that has frozen paychecks for nearly all federal workers, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday.

"You've found a way to get these individuals paid during a government shutdown," Patel said to President Trump during an unrelated Oval Office event. "On behalf of the FBI, it's a great debt that we owe you."

Patel did not specify the source of the funds that would be used to pay the agents.

Read more here.