Senate votes fail again as government shutdown drags on

The top Senate Republican indicated Wednesday he may hold votes on standalone bills to fund parts of the government, amid an impasse on how to end the shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Axios he's "prepared" to move some appropriations bills to the floor, including the defense appropriations bill, which has already passed the House. A source familiar with his remarks confirmed Thune's comments to CBS News.

Republican Sen. James Lankford said federal workers "will be paid" after the government shutdown ends — after President Trump said earlier Wednesday "most" workers will get back pay.

However, companies that contract with the federal government to provide various services will not necessarily get back pay, "and their families will be hurt," the Oklahoma Republican told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett.

A 2019 law signed during the first Trump administration offers back pay to federal workers after the end of a shutdown, but the White House issued a memo this week saying Congress may need to approve back pay separately — drawing pushback from some lawmakers, who believe workers should be paid.

Lankford, who serves as vice-chair of the GOP conference, also called Democrats' negotiating position "ridiculous," as Democratic lawmakers seek an extension of expiring health insurance subsidies in exchange for their votes to end the government shutdown.

"We've got to be able to get the government open. That's been the typical route that we've always done on this," said Lankford, adding that "people are legitimately getting hurt here in the process."

Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said House Speaker Mike Johnson "shouldn't even think about" canceling another week of session. The House has been out since Sept. 19, when it passed the Republican measure to fund the government until Nov. 21.

Congress was out the following week for Rosh Hashanah. The House was scheduled to be in session on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30, but Johnson canceled votes to put pressure on the Senate to pass the short-term funding bill before the Oct. 1 deadline.

Instead of returning on Oct. 7 as scheduled, Johnson canceled another week of votes, arguing that the House had already done its job by passing the funding bill.

"No, what the House has done is pass a 7-week Continuing Resolution. The entire reason a CR is necessary is that Congress has not done its job in passing a timely budget," Kiley wrote on X.

Kiley was referring to the dozen annual appropriations bills that fund many government agencies. None of the 12 bills have cleared both chambers, forcing the government to shut down without any short-term funding to hold agencies over until Congress passes the annual bills.

Asked if he would encourage Congress to pass a standalone bill to pay service members, the president said he supports the idea, but also that there's plenty of time. Without government funding, military members will miss their Oct. 15 paychecks next week.

"Yeah, that probably will happen," Mr. Trump responded. "We don't have to worry about it yet. That's a long time. You know what one week is for me? An eternity."

But time may be running out. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the shutdown would need to end that night in order for service members to be paid next week.

"Our incredible military service members, who risk their lives to preserve and defend our country, are now working without pay, and will miss their next paychecks if this Democrat shutdown does not end tonight," Leavitt said Monday.

Speaking to reporters at a roundtable about antifa, the president said "most" federal workers will get back pay when the shutdown ends.

"Most of them are going to get back pay, and we're going to try to make sure of that," he said. "But some of them are being hurt very badly by the Democrats and they therefore won't qualify."

The president did not elaborate on what he meant by some workers not qualifying.

The president said he wants to "get the country open and then we're going to discuss" health care subsidies, a key demand for Democratic lawmakers.

The second tense confrontation of the day unfolded when Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York intercepted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries outside a news conference with Democratic leadership at the Capitol.

Lawler attempted to enter the room while the news conference was still underway but was stopped by staff, according to two sources. Moments later, he approached Jeffries as the event concluded, triggering a heated five-minute exchange in the hallway.

Lawler pressed the New York Democrat to support a bill that would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for one year. Lawler repeatedly invoked President Trump and accused Democrats of blocking the one-year extension.

Jeffries fired back, "You're embarrassing yourself right now," and later added, "You're embarrassing yourself and your district right now, and you're going down to defeat."

At one point, Jeffries jabbed a finger toward Lawler's chest, without making contact, saying, "You're not going to talk to me and talk over me because you don't want to hear what I have to say." Lawler replied, "Oh, I'm listening." Jeffries shot back, "So why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"

The exchange ended with Jeffries calling Lawler "a complete and total embarrassment."

Jeffries told reporters afterward that Lawler "is not a serious person."

"He's engaging in stunts because they're desperate. He crashed Ruben Gallego's press conference, now he tries to crash my press conference," Jeffries said. "Does this guy understand he represents a district that voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and he's going down in flames?"

During the House's brief pro forma session on Wednesday, a handful of Democrats yelled at the presiding Republican, Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho, to recognize them so they could call for Adelita Grijalva's swearing-in. They were denied.

"It's undemocratic," yelled Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat.

Asked whether a one-year extension of the health insurance tax credits, rather than a permanent extension that Democrats have demanded, was a nonstarter, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that "if anything is presented to us, of course, the caucus will consider it in good faith." Jeffries has previously indicated that the one-year extension would be a nonstarter.

But the minority leader added, "Are we to take the position, at this moment in time, in the midst of a Republican health care crisis, that we can't provide stability and certainty to working class Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act tax credits?"

Jeffries reiterated that Democrats want a permanent extension, but "at the end of the day, the caucus in good faith will evaluate anything presented from the Senate."

Jeffries also indicated that he supports a stand-alone vote to pay members of the military. "I believe that we should pay our men and women in uniform and I support the effort of our members to make sure that takes place," he said.

Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both Democrats, spoke with reporters at length outside of House Speaker Mike Johnson's office. They were calling for Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who was elected on Sept. 23 to fill the seat of her late father, to be sworn in while the House is out of session. Democrats have accused Johnson of putting off Grijalva's swearing-in to delay the final signature on a discharge petition that would force a vote on the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As Kelly and Gallego were speaking, Johnson exited his office and approached them.

"I'm not blocking her!" Johnson said, telling Kelly and Gallego that there's "a long tradition here and a process of how we administer the oath."

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said she would be sworn in once the House returns, and told the senators they should vote to end the government shutdown. When the Democrats noted that two Republicans had previously been sworn in while the House was out of session, Johnson said that was because they had a scheduled swearing-in day and their families were in Washington. Grijalva, Johnson said, has not had her swearing-in scheduled because she was elected after the House went on break on Sept. 19.

"Has nothing to do with Epstein," Johnson said.

Kelly said the delay is preventing 700,000 people in Arizona from having representation in Congress.

Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, entered the conversation at one point and told the senators not to lecture them, urging them instead to go vote to reopen the government.

"Nobody's covering up for a pedophile, so knock it the hell off," Lawler told Gallego.

After Johnson returned to his office, Kelly remarked, "that was fun!"

Kelly later told reporters he appreciated that Johnson came out to talk to them but dismissed the speaker's explanation for why Grijalva has not been sworn in.

"If Adelita Grijalva comes here and brings her family, then she can get sworn in?" he said. "Doesn't make any sense. He's doing this because he understands that she's the 218th vote on the discharge petition."

Posting a reporter's photo of the interaction to X, Grijalva wrote, "Nothing to see here, right? The people of my district need representation, NOW!"

Caitlin Yilek, Jaala Brown and Nikole Killion

The House-passed measure to fund the government fell short again Wednesday in a 54 to 45 vote. Republicans were unable to pick up any new support from Democrats on the procedural vote, which marked the sixth time votes on the measure have fallen short.

GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas did not vote on the procedural motions for either funding bill.

The procedural vote on the Democratic measure to fund the government fell short in a 47 to 52 party-line vote. Sixty votes were needed to move forward.

The Senate is now voting on whether to advance a House-passed measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. The Senate last voted on the measure on Monday, when Republicans saw no new progress on their effort to win support from Democrats.

Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Angus King of Maine have been the only senators to cross the aisle in support of the GOP proposal. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has consistently voted against the measure. Republicans need support from at least five more Democrats to advance the measure.

The Senate is taking a procedural vote on a Democratic measure that would fund the government until Oct. 31 and extend health insurance tax credits.

The measure has fallen short of the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation in the Senate five times, failing to pick up any support from Republicans. It's expected to fall short again.

After the vote, the Senate is set to move to a procedural vote on the House-passed measure to fund the government, which has also fallen short five times. Republicans have been working to peel off Democratic support for the measure. But they've failed to make any progress the last three times the chamber has voted.

The Senate is currently voting on a resolution disapproving of a rule issued by the Bureau of Land Management in 2024 about coal mining in Montana. The vote is the first in the series that will include the competing funding bills. You can watch the Senate floor in the player at the top of this story.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune reiterated to reporters Wednesday morning that Republicans are "happy to sit down with a group and figure out what the path forward might look like" on Democrats' push to address health care issues, but "we've got to open up the government" first.

"The conversation will happen when we open up the government," Thune said. "Nothing's changed. We all understand what they want to do, and we're not averse, as I've said repeatedly, to having that conversation. At some point, they have to take yes for an answer."

Democrats have insisted that they need more than assurances on their demands to extend health insurance tax credits.

Asked whether he would consider keeping the Senate in session through the weekend, the South Dakota Republican said, "I don't know that that does any good or makes any difference," though he added, "I would."

"I've told our members just to be prepared for any scenario, and if enough Democrats start to come to their senses and want to have conversations about how to get the government open, then I'm certainly open to having folks here Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday — whatever," he said.

At his now-daily press conference at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he supports furloughed federal workers getting back pay once the shutdown is over.

"It's my understanding that the law is that they would be paid. There is some other legal analysis that is floating around. I have yet had time to dig into and read that, but it has always been the case, that is tradition and I think it is statutory law, that federal employees be paid, and that's my position. And I think they should be," the speaker said. "They should not be subjected to harm and financial dire straits because Chuck Schumer wants to play political games."

He also threw cold water on the idea of bringing the House back to vote on separate legislation to pay members of the military, saying House Democrats had their chance to support the continuing resolution that would have avoided the shutdown.

"Hakeem Jeffries and the House Democrats … are clamoring to get back here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and say they're for paying the troops. We already had that vote. It's called the CR," Johnson said. "Every Republican and at least one Democrat had the common sense to say, 'Of course we want the government to stay in operation, of course we want to pay our troops and our air traffic controllers and our Border Patrol agents, TSA and everybody else.' We did have that vote."

He continued: "They live with that vote. They made that decision. The House is done. The ball is now in the Senate's court. It does us no good to be here dithering on show votes."

The speaker said Republicans are "not asking the Democrats to do anything heroic."

"We're asking them to do their basic duty and responsibility," Johnson said. "I'm sorry, I'm aggravated. The first responsibility of the government is to protect the people. And the people who are supposed to be protected are being completely cheated by Democrats in the Senate because they want to play politics."

The Senate is set to begin a series of votes at 11:20 a.m. that will include procedural motions on advancing the Democratic and Republican plans to fund the government, according to a notice from Majority Whip John Barrasso's office.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth railed against Senate Minority Leader Schumer in a post on X, pointing out that Wednesday marks one week until Oct. 15, the date when active-duty service members are set to miss their next paychecks unless lawmakers vote to reopen the government.

"T-minus 7 days until @SenSchumer's vanity shutdown means our great troops won't get paid," Hegseth said, accusing the Democratic leader of caring "WAY MORE about his own reelection" than "the essential paycheck of our SELFLESS troops."

The date is seen as a possible leverage point for Republicans as they push to peel off Democratic support for a measure to keep the government funded until Nov. 21. Meanwhile, President Trump pledged Sunday at an event to mark the Navy's 250th anniversary in Norfolk, Virginia, to "get our service members every last penny" despite the government shutdown.

"Don't worry about it," Mr. Trump said. "It's all coming, it's coming."

But exactly how the issue would be resolved remains to be seen. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would be open to an emergency measure to pay members of the military that would come separately from a broader bill to open the government. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly chimed in at the news conference, adding, "you don't need that."

"Obviously there are certain constituencies, many of whom are going to be impacted in a very negative way by what's happening here," Thune said. "But the simplest way to end it is not try to exempt this group or that group or that group, it's to get the government open."

A suggestion by the White House on Tuesday that furloughed workers are not entitled to back pay at the end of the shutdown was met with pushback from members of both parties on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans saying the memo that floated the issue was not helping.

A 2019 law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump has been widely interpreted to guarantee back pay for furloughed workers after a funding lapse, but a memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget said that might not be the case. The legal analysis asserted that the law meant that Congress would have to approve back pay for furloughed workers.

President Trump, asked to comment on whether furloughed workers would get back pay, said at the White House that "I would say it depends on who we're talking about."

Republicans on Capitol Hill on Tuesday said they believed furloughed workers would get paid after a shutdown.

"I haven't looked at the memo specifically yet. My assumption is that furloughed workers will get back pay," Majority Leader John Thune said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course."

Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina said he believed it was a "strategic mistake" to let furloughed workers "think that they could potentially not get back pay."

"I don't think that that is a helpful discussion right now," he said.

On Day 8 of the shutdown, the only event on the president's schedule, aside from his usual intelligence briefing, is participating in a "roundtable on ANTIFA," according to the White House.

The president last month designated the loosely affiliated left-wing movement, short for "anti-fascist," as a "major terrorist organization." Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is in Portland, where the president has said ICE facilities have been "under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists."

State and local officials have strongly disputed that characterization, and accused the administration of inflaming tensions on the ground. A federal judge has blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to the city.

The Senate is set to hold procedural votes midday Wednesday on dueling measures to fund the government, trying to break the impasse for a sixth time after the bills last fell short of the 60 votes needed on Monday.

The chamber has repeatedly voted on the measures as Republicans have aimed to peel off support from Democrats for their measure. Republicans have been pushing for a House-passed measure to keep the government funded until Nov. 21, while Democrats have a separate measure to fund the government through October that would also extend health insurance tax credits, which has become Democrats' key demand in the funding fight.

Republicans failed to pick up any new support for their measure on Monday. And with 53 Republicans in the upper chamber, support from Democrats is needed to advance a measure to fund the government.

Just one Democrat initially crossed the aisle to support the bill in a vote last month. But on the next vote, which came last week, two more senators crossed the aisle to back it. Since then, Republicans have been unable to peel off any additional support from Democrats in two more attempts.

Airports in U.S. cities including Denver; Newark, New Jersey; and Burbank, California, experienced flight delays Monday amid shortages of air traffic controllers, according to federal flight data.

Federal officials have flagged more air traffic control facilities for low staffing levels in recent days than they have since the summer of 2022, when the post-COVID travel boom sent delays and cancellations soaring, according to a CBS News data analysis of Federal Aviation Administration airspace advisories.

Flights into Hollywood Burbank Airport, which serves Los Angeles, were slowed until 1 a.m. Tuesday, resulting in average delays of 2.5 hours, FAA data shows. No air traffic controllers were on duty on Monday evening at the airport, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a social media post.

According to CBS News Los Angeles, plane captains taking off from the Burbank airport were being asked to contact SoCal Approach, a San Diego-based company also known as Southern California TRACON, so they could communicate and get departure clearance.

Read more here.

As House GOP leaders have kept the lower chamber away from Washington to put pressure on the Senate to adopt a House-passed measure to fund the government, an effort to force a vote on a measure that would compel the Justice Department to release materials related to Epstein has also been stalled in recent weeks.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California have been leading the effort, known as a discharge petition, to force the vote, which is on the verge of succeeding once lawmakers return. House GOP leaders have opposed putting the legislation on the floor, arguing it doesn't do enough to protect victims. Though leaders control what receives a vote, a discharge petition enables members of the lower chamber to bypass leadership if they can get a majority, 218, to sign on.

The petition currently stands at 217 signatures, including all Democrats and four Republicans. And the House's newest member, Adelita Grijalva, won a special election last month and is expected to deliver the final signature. But her swearing-in has been delayed with the House in recess. Massie has accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of "doing everything he can" to block a vote on the bill.

When asked Tuesday whether the delay in Grijalva's swearing in had anything to do with the Epstein petition, Johnson told reporters it has "nothing to do with that at all" and reiterated that she will be sworn in once the House returns.