The US government is on the brink of its first federal government shutdown in almost seven years, with prospects looking bleak for a last-minute compromise in Congress to avoid closures beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Senate was holding a roll call on the government funding bill. The Senate is voting — one more time — on a temporary bill to fund the government and avert a federal shutdown.
No different outcome
But the outcome may be no different than the last time.
Democrats are rejecting the Republican bill that would fund operations into mid-November because it fails to include the funds they are demanding to save health care programs.
A Democratic-led bill that includes funding was again defeated.
Democrats and Republicans are in a stalemate over health care funding and spending. Congress angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of federal workers faced furloughs or layoffs.
Federal funding
To avoid it, the Senate would have to pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills.
Some government functions — such as NASA’s space missions, President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, and certain public health work at the FDA and the USDA — would continue during a shutdown.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump emphasized his vision of using the military for domestic purposes during a speech to top US military officials.
He emphasized handling “the enemy within,” referring to criminals and immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Trump was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the unusual gathering of hundreds of US military leaders who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world for an unveiling of new directives to end “woke” culture in the military.
