The vote is the latest sign of deteriorating bipartisan relations on Capitol Hill as the government shutdown drags into a third week.
The Senate voted 50-44 against proceeding to the bill after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected to considering the Defense spending bill without also voting on the annual Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. It needed 60 votes to advance.
“It’s always been unacceptable to Democrats to do the Defense bill without other bills that have so many things that are important to the American people in terms of health care, in terms of housing, in terms of safety,” Schumer told reporters before the vote.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, criticized Democratic colleagues for blocking a bill he said is critical to protecting national security.
“Two weeks ago, when Democrats chose to take the federal government hostage for partisan priorities, I warned that there would be nothing to gain from their shutdown. Today, our colleagues’ refusal even to begin considering the overwhelmingly bipartisan defense appropriations bill is a sobering reminder that there is, however, much to lose,” he said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) threw a curveball into negotiations over ending the shutdown Wednesday when he teed up the full-year funding bill, surprising Democrats and daring them to vote against a measure that would allow military service members to be paid.
Several centrist members of the Democratic caucus were on the fence about voting to proceed to the Defense bill while they were awaiting word on whether it would be paired with the Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill other non-defense appropriations bills.
“I’m still trying to determine what the plan is. If the plan is to bring forth as a substitute the Senate [defense] bill and the Labor [Health and Human Services] bill, then yes. If the plan is to simply run [the defense bill] by itself, then the answer is no,” Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said when asked whether he would vote to advance the defense measure.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) also said before the vote that he was uncertain how he would vote until he knew more about how the Defense bill would be packaged with other bills.
The $852 billion Defense appropriations bill passed out of committee with strong bipartisan support in July, advancing by a vote of 26-3.
Thune framed Thursday’s vote as an important opportunity to pay more than a million military service members who are at risk of missing paychecks during an extended shutdown.
“If we can’t reopen the entire government, we can at least make some progress toward securing paychecks for our troops and for defending our country,” he said on the Senate floor before the vote.
The defense spending bill includes $193 billion in pay and benefits for service members and their families, and a 3.8 percent pay raise for all service members.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
