Senate fails to advance GOP bill to pay essential federal workers during shutdown

The Senate adjourned for the weekend at 4:43 p.m. The chamber will not meet Friday and will instead reconvene at 3 p.m. on Monday, on what will be Day 27 of the shutdown, barring unforeseen developments. 

Speaking to reporters, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he will continue discussions aimed at passing his bill that would pay federal employees, service members and contractors who continue to work during a lapse in funding. He said Democrats should support advancing the bill to begin the amendment process and that their differences were "not insurmountable."

"The way to do it is get on the bill and then start working out the differences and hopefully pass it next week. Now, I fear it won't get cloture. That doesn't mean the discussions won't continue," he said. "I talked to both Sen. Van Hollen and Sen. Peters. We'll get our staffs working on this, and see if we can iron out differences, and maybe we can come to an agreement next week."

Johnson noted the differences between his bill and the Democratic proposals, namely that his version would apply to all future shutdowns, not just the current impasse: "I want to make this permanent. I want to stop playing brinkmanship. I want to stop playing with people's lives."

He also said he is "willing to talk" about restricting the president's ability to lay off employees during a shutdown, but doesn't want to "completely hamstring" the White House.

House Democrats will hold an in-person caucus meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday at 6 p.m., according to a source familiar with the plans.

House Republicans, meanwhile, have scheduled a conference call for Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., a source familiar with the plans confirmed to CBS News, continuing their remote coordination while the House remains out of session.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Majority Leader John Thune commented on the failed vote to advance the bill to pay federal workers, and expressed exasperation at his Democratic colleagues.

"I don't know how you would explain — if you have any federal employees — how you would vote against something that would make sure that, in the middle of a government shutdown, if they continue to work, that they get paid. That's all it was. Very simple, very straightforward," Thune said. "I think the other side is in a very bad headspace right now, to vote against something like that." 

He continued: "If you have any federal employees in your state, obviously a lot of them here in this area, all of our staffs are currently not getting paid. Sen. Johnson tried to correct that today by calling up a bill which we just voted on and which once again Democrats here in this chamber voted against."

Thune said he "can't explain what's going on on the other side of the aisle, but they consistently come down here and vote against paying people who are working, working every single day and not getting paid."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned of disruptions to air travel during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday if the government shutdown continues.

"With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we are nearing the busiest travel period of the entire year, when millions of Americans will go to airports to spend time with their loved ones," Leavitt said during the White House press briefing. "Let us be very clear from the White House today: if the Democrats continue to keep the government closed, we fear there will be significant flight delays, disruptions and cancellations in major airports across the country this holiday season."

Leavitt said roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers are working without pay. The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 3 million people on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, breaking a previous record set in July 2024.

Three Democrats voted with Republicans to advance Johnson's bill to pay nonfurloughed federal workers: 

• John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
• Jon Ossoff of Georgia
• Raphael Warnock of Georgia

One senator — Republican Tim Sheehy of Montana — did not vote. Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote to "no" in a procedural move that allows him to bring up the bill again.

Ossoff and Warnock have consistently voted against moving forward with the House-passed funding bill that would end the shutdown, while Fetterman has voted in favor.

The bill sponsored by GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, the Shutdown Fairness Act, failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate. The final tally was 54 to 45.

Democrats argued that the bill gives the president too much leeway in deciding who gets paid during the shutdown.

The Senate is now taking a vote on invoking cloture on a motion to proceed to the bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Johnson that would pay federal employees, members of the military and contractors who have continued to work during the shutdown. It needs 60 votes to advance, which it is unlikely to receive.

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan asked for unanimous consent to pass his version of federal worker legislation, with a narrower focus than Van Hollen's. Known as the Military and Federal Employee Protection Act, the bill would provide pay covering the period between Oct. 1 and the enactment of the bill.

"It seems to me that we all agree in this chamber that we want to pay federal workers. My bill will do just that, and nothing else," Peters said on the floor. "The Military and Federal Employee Protection Act provides pay for members of the military, federal employees and federal contractors who have been denied paychecks during the government shutdown."

He said his narrower approach would allow federal workers to pay their bills during the shutdown.

Sen. Ron Johnson again objected.

"Again, I really don't want to object to these bills, but understand that the way to pass this into law — as I was speaking to the senator from Maryland as we exited the chamber — wouldn't this be a wonderful demonstration for the Senate, for Congress, for America, of how you pass a piece of legislation?" Johnson said, imploring Democrats to allow his legislation to advance to the amendment process.

The Senate is proceeding soon to the vote on advancing the GOP bill to pay working federal employees.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland sought unanimous consent to pass his legislation that would pay all federal workers, including those on furlough, during the shutdown. The bill, known as the True Shutdown Fairness Act, also would have blocked the Trump administration from implementing more layoffs during the lapse in funding.

"We should not be punishing federal employees for something they had nothing to do with," Van Hollen said in a brief speech.

Van Hollen laid out Democrats' objections to the GOP bill, saying it would give the president "a blank check to decide which federal employees to punish and which ones not to punish."

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin objected, meaning Van Hollen's measure failed. Johnson noted that his bill and Van Hollen's had many similarities, with the difference being that his legislation is "targeted to the people we are forcing to work." But he added that he was "not necessarily opposed to paying furloughed workers as well."

Johnson said he was willing to adjust his bill to include furloughed workers and asked Van Hollen if he would agree to that. Van Hollen was noncommittal and emphasized his position that the administration should be restricted from laying off more workers.

Van Hollen said "it would be great to work this out," and that "the best way to proceed" would be to delay this afternoon's vote on Johnson's bill to begin negotiations instead.

Johnson implored Van Hollen to support advancing the GOP bill and "hammer out" their differences.

"I honestly hate to object to this, I don't want to, OK? But again, this is not the way to pass it," the Wisconsin Republican said.

In his own remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the president as Americans brace for a spike in health insurance premiums and the government remains closed.

"We are staring into the abyss of the health care crisis here in America, and what is Donald Trump doing as we stare into the abyss of the health care crisis?" Schumer said. "He's flying off yet again to another corner of the world while people's premiums are set to skyrocket here at home."

The New York Democrat accused Mr. Trump of "bulldozing" the East Wing of the White House and seeking a $230 million settlement from the Justice Department for claims stemming from earlier federal investigations into him.

"We're in the middle of a health care crisis that will decimate tens of millions of Americans," Schumer said. "But Donald Trump doesn't seem to want to touch the topic with a 10-foot pole and has decided to fly off to another country yet again without negotiating with Democrats."

The president is set to leave Friday for a trip to Asia, where he said he will make stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.

"It's hard to fathom someone more out of touch and oblivious to our nation's struggles than the current president," Schumer said.

The Senate minority leader accused the president of using the presidency to enrich himself, pointing to the claims brought against the Justice Department. 

"While Americans are agonizing over their health care, Donald Trump is using the presidency to reach into the taxpayers' till and put money in his own pocket," he said.

While Republicans are blaming Democrats for the shutdown, Democrats are pointing to Republicans as responsible.

"The shutdown is on Donald Trump's back, and the American people know it," Schumer said. "They know that Republicans have the presidency, the House and the Senate, and the shutdown is on them."

Schumer called Sen. Ron Johnson's bill to pay essential workers a "ruse," and said Democrats "will not give Donald Trump a license to play politics with people's livelihoods."

"It doesn't end the pain of the shutdown. It extends it," he said. "The only way to pay every federal worker is for Republicans to get serious, sit down with Democrats, avert their health care crisis and reopen the government."

In remarks on the Senate floor shortly after it opened for business, the majority leader said his Democratic colleagues are responsible for the shutdown and are to blame for federal workers' first full missed paycheck on Friday.

"The real reason we're now in the longest full shutdown in history is because Democrats are afraid of backlash from the far-left if they stand down," Thune said.

The GOP leader accused Democrats of putting their political base ahead of the broader public.

Democrats, he said, "are keeping the government shut down because they're scared. Scared of a primary from the left. Scared of losing fundraising dollars. Scared that the far left will punish them if they don't appear to be fighting President Trump hard enough."

Thune rejected Democrats' alternative to Sen. Ron Johnson's proposal, which is set for a vote later Thursday. He said that passing the short-term funding measure backed by Republicans would ensure all federal workers get paid.

"We need five Democrats to show a little courage," he said. "Reopen the government and let's get to work."

Johnson shot down the idea of bringing the House back to vote on a bill to pay nonfurloughed federal workers like air traffic controllers, saying it would be a "waste of our time" given expected Democratic opposition in the Senate.

"If I brought everybody back right now and we voted on a measure to do this, to pay essential workers, it would be spiked in the Senate. They're going to show you this afternoon that they would spike that bill," the speaker said. "So it would be a waste of our time, and it would take the pressure off Chuck Schumer to get his job done and open the government again. This is what's so infuriating to us."

Appearing on Fox News, Thune said Democrats' proposal to pay government employees during the shutdown "doesn't solve the problem."

Thune said the Democratic plan would "allow the federal employees to be paid for one pay period and shut the government down again." He called it a "political gimmick."

"It doesn't solve the problem," Thune said. "We need to open up the government."

Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Chris Van Hollen are expected to offer two bills that would provide pay to all federal employees during the government shutdown. One bill would pay all federal employees through the shutdown and would block any more layoffs. The other is narrower, and would pay all federal workers through the day the bill is enacted.

Kathryn Watson and Cristina Corujo

Speaking at the House GOP's press conference at the Capitol, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic controllers who have continued to work without pay are "angry" and will go without a full paycheck for the first time on Oct. 28 if the shutdown doesn't end.

"Next Tuesday is the first paycheck that they will not receive, for the work they did in October … We have air traffic controllers who work more than five days a week. They work six days a week to make sure they can cover air travel throughout the country. And so if you have a controller who's working six days a week but has to think about, how am I going to pay the mortgage, how am I going to make the car payment, how am I going to put food on my kids' table?" Duffy said. "They have to make choices. And the choices they're making is to take a second job. Well, I don't want my air traffic controllers to take a second job. I want them to do one job."

The secretary said "safety is paramount" for the department, and flights will be delayed or canceled if there are not enough air traffic controllers to monitor the skies. 

He noted that the new air traffic controllers who are being trained are second-guessing their decision.

"They're thinking about leaving the academy, smart young men and women, because they don't want to work for a system that won't pay them, that won't guarantee them a paycheck," he said. 

Duffy concluded: "I can't guarantee you that your flight's going to be on time. I can't guarantee you that your flight's not going to be canceled. It's going to depend on our air traffic controllers coming into work every single day."

During an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," Johnson rejected a request from Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna from California to bring the House back into session to hold a vote on paying federal employees who have continued to work during the shutdown, but without pay.

Khanna told the show earlier Thursday that reopening the House would allow lawmakers to vote on paying service members and essential workers, and predicted a proposal would earn bipartisan backing.

"At least we'd get that funding passed," Khanna said.

The California Democrat alleged that Johnson is keeping the House out-of-session to avoid swearing in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who would be the decisive signature on a petition to force a vote on releasing files related to the case involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

But when asked about Khanna's proposal, Johnson said Democrats wouldn't support legislation to pay essential workers. He argued that the short-term funding proposal passed by the House last month kept the government open and ensured federal workers would continue to receive paychecks, and Democrats voted against it.

"Democrats have already told us that they're going to vote against that, so it would be a pointless exercise in the House," Johnson told CNBC, "and that is why I keep emphasizing the House has done its job."

The Senate is convening at 10 a.m. and will begin a series of roll call votes at 12:15 p.m., beginning with the vote on advancing the Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay federal employees who have continued to work during the shutdown. The measure needs 60 votes to advance.

The chamber will hold votes on a pair of judicial nominations following the cloture vote, according to Majority Whip John Barrasso's office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of the GOP leadership will be joined by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at their news conference at the Capitol at 10 a.m. You can watch a live stream of the press conference in the video player at the top of this page.

The U.S. gross national debt has surpassed $38 trillion for the first time, U.S. Treasury Department data shows.

The country's mounting debt comes as the government remains closed, disrupting the economy as hundreds of thousands of federal workers go unpaid. 

Government shutdowns can boost the national debt because they delay economic activity and postpone fiscal decisions, while pausing federal programs and starting them up again can also increase costs. The Office of Management and Budget estimated that a 2013 U.S. government shutdown cost $2 billion in lost worker productivity. 

"Reaching $38 trillion in debt during a government shutdown is the latest troubling sign that lawmakers are not meeting their basic fiscal duties," Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on fiscal policy, said in a statement. 

"If it seems like we are adding debt faster than ever, that's because we are. We passed $37 trillion just two months ago, and the pace we're on is twice as fast as the rate of growth since 2000," he added.

Read more here.

The Senate is set to vote Thursday on advancing a measure to pay federal employees who are working through the shutdown, as Republican leaders put pressure on Democrats who have largely remained opposed to efforts to restart funding. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier this week teed up consideration of the measure, which he said "essentially would pay anybody who's currently working." The procedural vote on advancing the measure would require 60 votes to succeed.

The bill, known as the Shutdown Fairness Act and sponsored by GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, would pay "excepted" federal employees whose work is considered essential during a period of lapsed funding. Those workers continue to work but don't get back pay until the shutdown is over. Nonessential workers are placed on furlough but also get back pay. 

Johnson's bill would appropriate "such sums as are necessary" to pay the non-furloughed workers while the shutdown is ongoing. It would also pay members of the military, as well as contractors who support excepted employees and are "required to perform work during a lapse in appropriations."

But moving forward on the legislation would require support from Democrats, who have argued that all federal workers, including those on furlough, should be paid. Some have warned that the bill would give the administration broad authority over who gets a paycheck and who doesn't. 

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters earlier this week that the bill "allows Donald Trump to pay who he likes and not pay who he doesn't like," arguing that it gives "enormous discretion on who he chooses to pay and not pay."

"We know what will happen — any agencies that he doesn't like won't get paid," Murphy said. "If you criticize him, you're not essential and you don't get paid. If you kiss his ass, you'll be essential and you'll get paid."

Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, delivered a marathon speech on the Senate floor that stretched 22 hours and 37 minutes across Tuesday and Wednesday, protesting President Trump's policies in one of the longest addresses in the chamber in recent years.

Merkley, 68, began speaking at 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday and continued until 4:58 p.m. Wednesday. Over the course of the speech, he railed against the Trump administration for its deportation efforts, canceled federal programs, so-called weaponization of the Justice Department and efforts to send the National Guard into American cities — including Portland, Oregon.

"I've come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells," Merkley said at the outset of his speech. "We're in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution."

A slew of Merkley's fellow Democrats took turns asking him extended questions, giving him breaks over the course of his speech and providing a platform for other senators to make their own arguments. The address was the fourth-longest in the Senate since 1900, according to the Senate Press Gallery.

Read more here.

The Senate vote on advancing the continuing resolution to end the shutdown failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to succeed for a 12th time on Thursday evening. 

The final vote was 54-46. Three Democrats voted in favor of the GOP-backed bill, echoing every vote since the shutdown began.