Moderate Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), one of two Republicans to vote against the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) earlier this month, said she will vote for it when it comes back to the floor Tuesday.
“We’ve got mere hours before the end of the fiscal year, and so I’ve got no options now,” said Murkowski, who has proposed a framework to keep the government open that would extend the expiring Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies for a year.
Murkowski offered her framework, which would also block the White House budget office’s attempt to claw back foreign aid funding, on Sept. 20.
The Alaska senator wasn’t thrilled with the House-passed CR when she unveiled her alternative framework to keep the government open, but she said Tuesday that she will switch her vote from “no” to “yes” to avoid a shutdown.
“I’m not interested in seeing a continued shutdown,” she said.
As a result, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the only Republican senator expected to vote against the House-GOP-crafted funding stopgap. He opposes the measure because he says it prolongs Biden-era funding levels.
