Senate Democrats voted Wednesday for a 12th time to block a House-passed bill to reopen the government and keep it funded through Nov. 21.
Democrats blocked the funding measure — a clean continuing resolution that would prolong Biden-era funding levels — after liberal Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) spoke on the Senate floor for nearly 23 hours to protest President Trump’s first nine months in office.
Democratic colleagues applauded Merkley’s show of defiance before the vote on the Republican-drafted funding bill.
The bill failed to advance by a vote of 54-46. It needed 60 votes to move forward.
Only three members of the Democratic caucus voted to reopen the government: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.) and Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the lone Republican to oppose the measure.
Democrats who blocked the House-passed bill say they won’t fund the government until Trump and Republican leaders in Congress negotiate over the expiration of enhanced health insurance subsidies, GOP-enacted cuts to Medicaid and the administration’s moves to claw back previously approved funding.
The repeated failure of the House-passed funding bill to move in the Senate has House Republicans discussing the possibility of passing a funding stopgap that would last until December 2026.
