Government shutdown nears after Senate Republicans break ranks to block budget bill

Eight Republican lawmakers joined all Democratic senators to vote down a federal government funding package on Thursday. The package, meant to avert another government shutdown, would need to be approved before midnight on Friday to keep the lights on.

Democrats have objected to the spending package over its funding of the Department of Homeland Security. In the wake of unrest in Minneapolis and the killings of several U.S. citizens by ICE agents, the minority party has pressed for a rewritten budget bill without appropriations for the agency. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said  earlier this week that his caucus “will not pass the DHS budget until it is rewritten.”

“I will vote no on any legislation that funds ICE until it is reined in and overhauled,” he shared on X.

None of the Republican legislators who voted “no” mentioned ICE funding in their explanations. Most of the defectors cited concerns about government spending more generally as the inspiration for their vote.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott criticized Democrats for their stance on ICE while joining them in voting down the package.

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“I don’t like the bill. I don’t like the six-bill package because it doesn’t balance the budget and it’s got all this wasteful spending through all these earmarks,” he said. “They’re talking about proceeding to cut out the ICE portion of the funding. I don’t support that, I support ICE. I think it’s crazy that at the last minute Democrats think they can dictate and shut down the [Homeland Security] funding.”

Scott was joined by Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. The bill failed by a vote of 45-55. It needs to pass a 60-vote threshold to move forward, meaning all eight Republicans and seven Democrats would need to change their vote.