Government shutdown live updates as Senate works through the weekend to end impasse

Thune told reporters that the GOP conference was working to finalize the text of the “minibus,” or the set of three appropriations bills that Republicans hope will prompt moderate Democrats to vote to advance the continuing resolution that would reopen the government. He said the text of the package should be released soon.

“The question is can we have it all ready, and I’ve been talking all morning with some of the people involved in the mini and I think we’re close to having it ready,” he said. “We just need to get the text out. But, you know, it would be, ideally, it would be great to get it up so we can vote on it today, but we need to have the votes to pass it. So we’ll see how the day goes, and as people have the opportunity to confirm their views when the text comes out, I think we’ll know with greater certainty.”

In terms of timing, Thune declined to say when the chamber might attempt to pass the package, but did not rule out a vote later in the day.

Thune told reporters after speaking on the Senate floor that the chamber would stay in town until the government reopens, suggesting they might forgo a planned Veterans Day recess next week.

Asked if he still planned to send senators home for the holidays, Thune said “no,” adding that “we’re going to vote on the minibus,” although he said there was no definitive timetable for the overall appropriations bills. First, Republicans need to release the text, Thune said.

“Are you going to stay until the government reopens?” » asked a journalist.

“Yeah,” Thune replied.

Thune spoke and reiterated his opposition to Democrats’ offer to reopen the government in exchange for extending health care subsidies. He told the story of Obamacare and presented the subsidies as a Democratic effort to alleviate high prices caused by the Affordable Care Act.

“They created this cliff, and now they want to blame Republicans for their breakup. Give me a break,” the South Dakota Republican said. “The Democrats’ proposal is simply the same: hide the rise in premiums and increase insurance company profits with more taxpayer money.”

He called the tax credits Democrats are seeking to expand a “Biden bonus.” And he said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s proposal was “a failure,” adding that “there’s still only one way out: it’s an extension of clean funding.”

“We’re reopening, and then we can start talking about fixing the health care mess the Democrats created,” Thune said.

The majority leader said he was “happy to see that after 38 days, Democrats have finally reconciled themselves to the idea that their paralysis cannot last forever.”

“And I urge my colleagues to support a continued, clear resolution so we can begin a real discussion to fix the health care mess, return to the normal appropriations process, and, above all, finally bring relief to the American people,” he added.

Today’s Senate session is the fourth time this year that senators have met on a Saturday, according to a list compiled by the chamber’s secretary.

Saturday’s most recent meeting took place on August 2, when the Senate took 15 votes on a variety of legislation and appointments to clear the decks before the August recess. Before that, senators gathered on June 28 to work to advance the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They also met for three hours on January 25 to consider two Cabinet nominations.

The Senate has held 129 Saturday sessions since 1968, including today’s, according to the secretary’s list.

The Senate convened at noon with an invocation from the chamber chaplain and the Pledge of Allegiance.

No votes are currently scheduled, but a notice from Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office says votes are “possible” during Saturday’s session.

Bipartisan talks aimed at reaching a deal to end the shutdown are expected to continue Saturday after Republicans on Friday rejected an offer from Democrats to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of health insurance tax credits.

Thune told CBS News that the offer was “a failure,” noting that there was a proposal on the table that a group of bipartisan senators had been circling around.

“We need to vote to open the government. And there is a proposal to do that, and then we can have this whole conversation about health care,” Thune said.

The contours of the deal to break the impasse began to take shape earlier this week, with a possible agreement that would fund the government alongside long-term appropriations bills in exchange for a vote on expanding health insurance tax credits sought by Democrats. But while some moderates were eager to find a solution to reopen the government, other members of the caucus appear emboldened by the party’s victory in Tuesday’s key election, pushing to hold out longer in the shutdown fight in an effort to secure further concessions.

Although Senate GOP leaders planned to move forward with a vote on the continuing resolution Friday, with a plan to amend the bill to include the full year’s funding measures if it moved forward, the vote never came to fruition. Instead, Senate Republicans attempted Friday to propose a measure to pay federal workers who work during the shutdown, which failed to reach the 60-vote threshold, garnering support from just three Democrats.

It remains to be seen whether the chamber will vote on Saturday.

“We’ll see if there’s anything we can vote on,” Thune told reporters Friday evening.

In an article published Saturday morning by Truth Social, President Trump said he is recommending that Senate Republicans end the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

He said the money used to fund the program should be sent directly to members of the American public instead of “insurance companies sucking money in order to save the poor health care provided by ObamaCare.”

“In other words, take it from the BIG, BAD insurance companies, give it to the people,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Mr. Trump criticized the ACA as “the worst health care system in the world.” He added that Congress “still needs to end the filibuster!” »

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday froze, for now, a lower court order that required the Trump administration to quickly provide full federal food benefits to about 42 million Americans.

Jackson’s order is temporary. She said it would give a federal appeals court more time to determine whether to grant the Trump administration more emergency aid while the appeal in the dispute over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments moves forward.

The Supreme Court’s late intervention came as the Trump administration neared an end-of-day deadline, set Thursday by a district court judge, to cover all food aid for November and use about $4 billion for other nutrition programs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit temporarily let the lower court’s ruling stand, after which the Justice Department requested emergency relief from the Supreme Court.

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