Thune Saves Funding Deal in Senate

The Senate passed legislation to fund the government by a 71-29 vote on Friday, setting the stage for what is expected to be a brief, partial government shutdown over the weekend.

The deal, if passed by the House and signed by President Donald Trump, will fund a number of federal agencies and buy time for negotiating disagreements on immigration law enforcement.

The package includes funding for the State Department, financial regulators, as well as agencies overseeing war, education, labor, health, and housing. Additionally, the package provides a two-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security.

Five Republicans joined 24 Democrats in voting “no” on the bill—Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Johnson, Lee, Paul, and Scott have previously criticized the earmarks in the package.

Democrats demanded a separate vote on homeland security after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis during an interaction with federal officers. 

The Friday vote means that negotiations on immigration law enforcement will continue in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, leadership’s first attempt to pass a six-bill funding package failed to muster even a simple majority. 

All Democrats and eight Republicans voted against bringing the previous version of the package to a final vote, with Democrats making demands on homeland security and some Republicans expressing dissatisfaction with the bills.

In order to overcome disagreement, Senate Republican leadership crafted a “time agreement” with the consent of all 100 Senate offices.

A time agreement is an expedited process under which the Senate sets the terms for debate and agrees to limitations on amendments.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., came to the Senate floor Friday and announced the agreement, which was advanced by unanimous consent.

Amendments Get Democrats on Record on Key Issues

The time agreement’s structure allowed for seven amendment votes.

Paul’s amendment to block billions of dollars in assistance for refugees failed by a 37-62 margin.

Lee’s amendment to strip the bill of earmarks also failed when it was tabled by a 58-42 margin, and Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri’s amendment to block funding for the National Endowment for Democracy failed in a voice vote.

Democrats also had amendments. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon’s amendment to rein in presidents’ ability to rescind funding failed 47-52.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, introduced an amendment to cut Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s funding increase in the July budget reconciliation bill, which failed 71-29.

A Fast Turnaround

The Senate’s rapid deal-making was unexpected in some circles.

Shortly after the failed Thursday vote, The Daily Signal asked Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., if he expected the Senate could come to a deal within 24 hours.

Fetterman replied, “Geez, I mean, this is the Senate. Are you crazy? I mean, I would love that, but that would be a new experience for my three years here when something normal could happen.”

Ahead of the time agreement, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced he was placing a hold on a deal unless he received guarantees of future votes on legislation.

Graham’s demands were a vote on legislation to criminalize state and local officials’ noncompliance with immigration law, as well as a vote on legislation to protect senators’ ability to sue the federal government if their records are subpoenaed without notice in a noncriminal investigation.

After the announcement time agreement, Graham said in a statement that leadership had granted his requests.

Weekend Shutdown

The bill will now head back to the House of Representatives for passage before it can be sent to the president’s desk. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., told a USA Today reporter on Friday that the “earliest floor action we could have is Monday.”

Johnson acknowledged that “we may inevitably be in a short shutdown situation” but that “the House is going to do its job.”