Thread: Live Updates – Schumer Amnesty Shutdown: Washington on Edge as Cliff Approaches

UPDATE

Senate Democrats Kill Bill to Keep Government Open Past Midnight

UPDATE 11:21 P.M.
Less than an hour before a government shutdown, there seems to be another effort afoot to avoid said shutdown.



But, these types of reports have been emerging all day and haven’t panned out. More importantly, the Democrats seem to have overplayed their hands–and boxed themselves into a strategic miscalculation:

UPDATE 10:57 P.M.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), another Schumer lackey who voted for a government shutdown tonight, is under fire back in Wisconsin already now too as her likely GOP challenger businessman Kevin Nicholson–the leading candidate in Wisconsin primaries–is hammering away at her calling her “Shutdown Tammy” working for the “Schumer Shutdown.”

UPDATE 10:56 P.M.
Again, technically, the vote is still open on the Senate floor but expected to fail:

UPDATE 10:53 P.M.
It begins. The Schumer Shutdown’s negative effects on members of his Democratic conference are already becoming apparent, as Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) is ripping Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)–who he is running against in Pennsylvania this year–for voting for a government shutdown tonight.

“While the House passed a Continuing Resolution that provides funding for our military, veterans, seniors, and kids, the Senate rules require 60 votes to pass spending legislation. Republicans only hold 51 seats in the Senate,” Barletta said in a statement bashing Casey’s vote for a government shutdown. “It was impossible for the Senate to get to 60 votes and avert a government shutdown without Democrat support. By voting no tonight, Senator Casey and the Democratic Senators who joined him are solely responsible for denying funding for American citizens. There are 342,000 children in Pennsylvania who benefit from the Children’s Health Insurance Program and 4,900 DACA recipients. By voting to shut down the government, Senator Casey put illegal immigrants over health insurance for our kids. Pennsylvanians should be furious.”


UPDATE 10:50 P.M.
McConnell is expected to vote against the measure when the vote is closed on the Senate floor for procedural reasons so he can bring the measure back up:


But the vote is still open right now for unclear reasons.


UPDATE 10:45 P.M.
In perhaps the worst possible outcome for Democrats and for Chuck Schumer, there were a majority of senators voting for the cloture measure on the vote to end debate and stop the filibuster on the House-passed government funding bill. That means, since the measure needed 60 votes to succeed, that it would have passed had Democrats voted for it–and despite obtaining a simple majority, a government shutdown will proceed because of Democrat intransigence on DACA amnesty.

A total of 5 Senate Democrats broke with the leadership of their party–Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Doug Jones (D-AL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)–on the vote. McCaskill was the biggest surprise, as she voted for keeping the government funded and open despite not having previously announced it. Her vote put the leadership of her party in a difficult position, as the deadline for government funding runs out in just over an hour.

Vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2018 like Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jon Tester (D-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), and both Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) fare worst with this result as it empowers Republicans running against them at the beginning of the midterm election year.

The House-passed spending bill would have kept the government open all the way until mid-February, and has had bipartisan support since it passed the House on Thursday night. Six House Democrats voted for the bill then–putting Senate Democrats in an awful position the past 24 plus hours.

The dramatic Senate vote stayed open much longer than expected, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held his vote back per a Senate procedure that allows him to re-introduce this measure even after failure by holding his own vote back and voting no in the end. But, McConnell would have voted for the measure if it were going to pass which means if he had voted it would have failed with a simple majority of 51-48. The vote will likely technically read as though it failed 50-49, even though McConnell is only likely voting against it so he can use the Senate procedure to reintroduce it after voting no. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is suffering from brain cancer and is back home in Arizona, did not vote. At a total of four Republicans–Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ)–voted against the measure.

Interestingly, however, the vote still remains open at this time–and it remains unclear if and when it will close, or if any senators will change their votes. What happens next also remains unclear, but government funding runs out in a little over an hour.

UPDATE 10:15 P.M.
The Senate has begun voting on the cloture measure on the House-passed government funding bill. The measure needs 60 votes to succeed. It remains unclear if it will get there, but seems unlikely.


UPDATE 10:15 P.M.
As the country awaits a Senate vote on the House-passed funding bill to keep the government open, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) continues to refuse to say whether she will stand with fellow Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly, Doug Jones, and Heidi Heitkamp or whether she will vote for a government shutdown.


If McCaskill votes against this bill, she will likely face serious criticism ahead of her re-election bid this year in Missouri:


UPDATE 10:10 P.M.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) bashes Democrats willing to shut down the government to play politics on issues that have nothing to do with government funding, like DACA. It is worth noting that his fellow Floridian Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) still is refusing to take a public position on the bill. Nelson faces a tough re-election this year, likely against Florida’s highly popular GOP Gov. Rick Scott.
“At a time when we face so much chaos in our politics, the only thing worse than a short-term spending deal is a government shutdown,” Rubio said in a statement issued late Friday. “I too support border security, dealing with DACA, increasing defense spending and disaster relief for Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico. We should keep the government open while we continue to work on these issues.”


UPDATE 10:04 P.M.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) confirms the Democrats plan to plunge the government into a shutdown over DACA amnesty for illegal aliens. Here’s more of what Coons is saying:

UPDATE 10:03 P.M.
According to MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt, the Democrats plan to vote in a bloc for a government shutdown tonight–imperiling their midterm election chances:

UPDATE 10:01 P.M.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a vulnerable Democrat up for re-election this year in a state in which President Trump trounced Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, is still refusing to take a public position minutes from the vote:

Nelson and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)–among others–refusing to take public positions on the bill puts them on the side of a government shutdown unless they vote for the bill on the Senate floor minutes from now.


UPDATE 9:58 P.M.
Democrats admit they essentially have zero plan on how to avoid a government shutdown that they have orchestrated.

The White House’s Marc Short makes it very clear after leaving Sen. Cornyn’s office that this is–again–the Democrats’ fault if the government shuts down, because they won’t vote to stop it:

And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi throws out some talking points on Twitter:


UPDATE 9:53 P.M.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, confirms to the media there is “no deal” at this time just over two hours out from a government shutdown and minutes away from a Senate vote on a House-passed plan to keep the government open. The fact that the Democrats are unwilling to vote against a government shutdown is severely damaging their midterm election chances, as evidenced by their dropoff in support in the generic ballot per NBC News and the Wall Street Journal in the latest polling.



UPDATE 9:51 P.M.
President Trump tweets tonight that the Democrats want a shutdown:

Here is more on what will likely happen next if the Democrats vote for a government shutdown as expected:




UPDATE 9:40 P.M.
The Democrats are in an awful position ahead of 10 p.m. vote in the U.S. Senate on the measure to keep the government open. That’s why the Democrats are scrambling to try to get some kind of a deal that allows them to save face instead of voting to shut the government down. They are in awful shape, and Schumer and Pelosi steered their members into this position by trying to force DACA amnesty into the government funding battle–something Schumer previously said even Democrats who support amnesty should not do so as to avoid chaos. Republicans are winning right now.


UPDATE 9:34 P.M.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) bashes the House-passed spending bill in a video she released on Twitter, but does not say in the video whether she will vote for or against the bill:

She is getting ripped apart back in Wisconsin as her fellow Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and the front-running GOP candidate against her businessman Kevin Nicholson are hammering her for enabling Schumer’s shutdown.


UPDATE 9:30 P.M.
Fox News is reporting that Senate Democrats are likely to cave here, and try to offer a short-term Continuing Resolution (and frame it as they are offering GOP an off-ramp) even without DACA in it:


UPDATE 9:28 P.M.
Breitbart News’ Sean Moran files this fact check of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who continues to refuse to say whether she will vote for a government shutdown or for the House-passed government funding bill on Friday evening:

Despite Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) claim on Friday that there has never been a government shutdown with one party in control of the executive and legislative branch, there have been multiple government shutdowns with one party in control of Congress and the presidency. In fact, the government has only shut down in recent history with one party, the Democratic party, in control of Congress and the White House.

McCaskill claimed on Friday night, “Never before in the history of this nation has the government been shut down with one party in control of both Congress and the Presidency. Never.”

The government first shut down with President Jimmy Carter and Democratic control of the House under Speaker Tip O’Neill and Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd from September 30 to October 13, 1977. The Senate at the time wanted to loosen the restriction for Medicaid dollars, known as the “Hyde” amendment, to allow funding for cases of rape and incest.

The government shut down once again between October 31 and November 9, 1977, after the Democrat-controlled Congress and presidency after the Democrats could not come to a solution on the issue of abortion funding.

The government shut down for the third time from November 30 to December 9, 1977 over the issue of abortion; the issue was eventually resolved when Democrats eventually granted Medicaid funding for abortion in the cases of rape, incest, and mother’s health.

The government once again shut down under Jimmy Carter and the Democratic-controlled Congress from September 30 to October 18, 1978. The Democrat Congress and President Carter disagreed about Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) Department funding as well a defense spending bill that included funding for nuclear-powered aircraft. Carter believed the defense bill to be too wasteful and the HEW spending bill to contain too much pork spending.

The government shutdown for the last time with a unified, Democratic, government from September 30 to October 12, 1979 over the issue of abortion. The House, controlled by Speaker Tip O’Neill, wanted to return to only one exception to abortion funding.

UPDATE 9:23 P.M.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), per CNN, says a “few things are percolating.”
Meanwhile here is what Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) says:

Meanwhile, House Democrats are planning to meet on Saturday morning to discuss the state of play:


And Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)–another leftist Democrat planning to vote for a government shutdown by voting against the House-passed government funding bill tonight–is whining about amnesty.


UPDATE 9:20 P.M.
There appear to developments ongoing in the Congress tonight, as Lindsey Graham is hopping in and out of Mitch McConnell’s office.




UPDATE 9:00 P.M.
A little more than an hour before the vote, it has become clear that despite Democrats’ intransigence there will be no DACA deal on Friday night no matter what:


UPDATE 8:58 P.M.
Another Democrat has broken ranks with Schumer ahead of the vote. Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) has announced his intention to vote for the House-passed government funding bill, significantly boxing in any Democrat who votes against the bill–which means any Democrat who votes against tonight’s cloture vote is voting for a government shutdown.


(Lots of tweets at Link)

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ff-approaches/

UPDATE 11:59 P.M.
As the government is about to shutdown thanks to Democrats particularly Chuck Schumer, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issues statement on Schumer Shutdown.



"Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country's ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people."

Sarah Sanders

@PressSec

https://mobile.twitter.com/PressSec?...-approaches%2F

It is a sad day in America when democrats and some republicans would vote to shut down the government of the United States for illegal aliens and for amnesty. How far we have come since giving an amnesty in 1986. Illegal aliens and those who use them have gained such favor and leverage against American citizens. Our Congress has failed us profoundly over decades and the White House does too with its repeated words in support of amnesty for DACA recipients. How many would that include?

The democrats seem totally set to not relent on demanding amnesty for the illegal aliens and probably figure they can pound the administration into folding with little in return. I hope we see something quite different at the end.

One thing is for sure, we, the American people, the citizenry, now know that we come second in the eyes of a great many in our own government.

James Woods
@RealJamesWoods

You kneel down to this #DACA scam and this photo will haunt you right out of the White House...

CIS.org Retweeted


Trish Regan



@trish_regan


·
The democrats have truly radicalized on immigration. They don’t want ANY border control and they are against ANYTHING @POTUS wants - @MarkSKrikorian on #govshutdown #daca

1:00

Lindsey Graham still scheming and plotting amnesty. From Chad Pergram's (Fox News) Twitter feed 1-20-18:

"Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is trying to craft a plan and get ten or more Democrats on board on an immigration/DACA package and to vote to end debate on the interim spending bill. Still, that doesn’t get them to 60 yeas."

https://twitter.com/chadpergram?lang=en

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, after Republican Conference Meeting this morning, stated that republicans are just as passionate about doing something on DACA. They gave democrats what they wanted in CR to avoid shutdown. When government opens back up they will work on the immigration issue.

Sounds like democrats hold the upper hand and will not concede till dreamers get amnesty. Senator Schumer's Twitter page says he stands with dreamers.

Mark Krikorian


@MarkSKrikorian



Dems shuts down the govt over amnesty for DACA illegals, but the processing of these illegals' work-permit renewals (mandated by a rogue judge) continues nonetheless. Surreal.
Seung Min Kim



@seungminkim


Interestingly, USCIS — the agency that process applications for DACA, central in this entire fight — doesn’t close in a shutdown because it’s fee-funded



**************

Mark Krikorian Retweeted


Mickey Kaus


@kausmickey


·Because it's not their position. Some GOPs want to see the Dreamers deported, or subject to deportation. But all the relevant pols and officials--Goodlatte, Trump, Miller--want a deal: Protect Dreamers but do x, y, and z to ameliorate the consequences.
Chris Hayes



@chrislhayes


One key point here: the GOP as a party wants to see the Dreamers deported but weirdly won’t just say that’s their position.

'END THIS CRAZINESS'

Vote on ending shutdown will happen by 1 a.m. Monday, McConnell says