ADDS REMARKS BY SENATE MINORITY LEADER
By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Senate on Friday rejected a House-passed Republican stopgap funding bill to end the ongoing government shutdown.
By a vote of 54-44, the Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution, as the federal government remains shuttered for a third day.
Senators voting in favor included Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and John Fetterman, as well as Independent Angus King. Democrat Chris Coons and Republican Jerry Moran did not vote. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against.
Earlier, the Senate rejected a Democrat bill to extend government funding by 46-52 votes.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republicans for the shutdown.
"Rather than working with us to end the pain Americans are feeling because of a shutdown, Republicans have instead , they have wasted a week, refused to talk and exacerbated pain for America," Schumer told reporters after the vote.
Instead of trying to come to the table and negotiate with Democrats and reopen the government, the White House and the Republicans have vowed to make "this a maximum pain shutdown, they call it. Unfortunately, the maximum pain falls on the American people, and the American people know it," he added.
The Republicans are using the American people "as political pawns," Schumer said, "because they don't want to even talk to us about reopening the government by fixing health care."
He said Americans are needed to be protected from rising insurance rates.
"The bottom line is, there's a way to end the shutdown. Come and sit down and negotiate a fair bill with us," Schumer stressed.
Schumer also slammed Johnson for his decision not to bring the House back next week.
When House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked Friday whether he would bring House Democrats back into town next week, he said: "Yes!"