Senate Democrats will meet at a special caucus lunch hosted by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) on Thursday afternoon to discuss a potential deal to reopen the government, but many Democrats say they need much bigger concessions from Republicans to support it. Democrats will hold the meeting in the Capitol ahead of a 5 P.M. EST vote on a resolution sponsored by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Adam Schiff (D-California) to block U.S. armed forces from engaging in hostilities within or against Venezuela. The late afternoon vote will give Democratic senators time to decide whether they are close enough to a deal to work through the weekend to reopen the government.
A swing group of Democrats is signaling they could accept a GOP offer including a continuing resolution, a package of appropriations bills and a vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies. To that end, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said Wednesday that Republicans are close to finalizing the “minibus” that would serve as the vehicle for any CR to open the government, though obstacles remain on both sides of the aisle in terms of getting the votes to overcome procedural hurdles. There is growing consensus that a key to unlocking the ability to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown hinges on landing a deal to move forward on three appropriations bills packaged together in a “minibus”: Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Legislative Branch. House and Senate Republicans are also close to settling on an end date for the extension of government funding — likely sometime in January.
With so much still up in the air, leadership will have to make some scheduling calls later today. They could opt to stay through the weekend if a deal seems imminent, leave Washington tonight/tomorrow and return Monday or go ahead with the scheduled Veteran’s Day recess all next week. It could take as long as five days just to process any bipartisan deal to reopen the government, as they would need to secure 60 votes on three separate motions to proceed to a legislative vehicle, to offer a substitute amendment and to end debate on the whole package.
For today, the Senate will also take up a Motion to discharge S.J.Res.90, directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.
