The cloture motion has failed on a vote of 50 for and 49 against. Senator McConnell just voted no. And has entered a vote to reconsider the vote. And he’s now reading from the White House Press Secretary’s Statement. Specifically the part about not negotiating the status of illegal immigrants. He’s trying to turn this all on the Democrats. Right now this is all for show and saving face ahead of whatever deal he and his caucus has to accept.
Why would any Democrats negotiate with this White House? Read this trash. pic.twitter.com/zdvnbI7Mk2
— Matt Murphy (@MattMurph24) January 20, 2018
I’ll update below once Senator Schumer gets to speak.
We are now fully in shutdown.
Republican Senators Graham, Flake, Lee, and Paul voted no. Senator McConnell couldn’t even keep his own caucus together. It didn’t matter how the Democratic senators voted, the Republican votes simply weren’t there. Had this been done on a simple majority, rather than the cloture rules, it wouldn’t have mattered. Senator McConnell was unable to hold the Republican majority in the Senate – he simply didn’t have the votes.
The US government will shut down, minus services and personnel deemed essential, at midnight Eastern Standard Time.
Senator Schumer has informed his caucus to stay in DC and come to work in the Senate tomorrow. And Senator McConnell has indicated the Senate will remain open and working. I’ll update that as soon as it is reported, though the House has been notified by Speaker Ryan they have to stay in DC in order to work on a resolution through the weekend.
And, of course, the real impact of a US government shutdown:
Two sources close to the president, one a White House official and the other a longtime confidant, told The Daily Beast how excited he was for the event and relayed his growing concern that the potential failure to strike a deal to keep the federal government open could keep him from “my party,” as the president has said.
Should be interesting to see if the President flies to Palm Beach tomorrow for his anniversary gala or if he stays in DC in case he has to sign a CR over the weekend. I know which way I’d bet.
Finally, we have a couple of firsts:
- This is the first government shutdown under unified/one party control of Congress and the Presidency.
- This is the first government shutdown within the first calendar year of any administration.
The President, Senator McConnell, and Speaker Ryan have just set two new records!
Update at 12:24 AM EST
Senator Schumer is now speaking. He’s refuting Senator McConnell’s and the White House’s official statement. Here’s the live stream:
The Cloture Vote Has Failed: The US Government Is Shutting Down!Post + Comments (150)