Senate Republicans are starting to feel the heat associated with the government shutdown.
They are also approaching the planned holiday recess.
Senate Republicans are engaging in bipartisan talks as they seek a solution to their own government shutdown.
What is developing is a way out where the Republicans save face by avoiding a vote on the CR, while the Democrats win.
Some of this bipartisan discussion focused on moving the 2026 budget bills, with some appropriators suggesting that a full-year package of bills could be introduced as a show of good faith before the Senate passes a stopgap measure that would end the shutdown.
Senate President Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who heads the Homeland Security subcommittee, met with Thune Thursday morning about an appropriator development plan to advance a three-bill package in addition to a new stopgap that runs through mid-December, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private conversation. A vote to extend expiring health insurance subsidies — a key demand of the Democratic shutdown — would likely be part of that, the people said.
The basic framework is that the Senate will pass the appropriations bills. The Senate will also pass a short-term CR and vote on the expiring ACA subsidies.
There are some problems with this plan. The biggest one is that Democrats don’t trust Republicans and may not settle for a vote on anything.
For more information, read the story below.
