The Senate convenes at 11 AM ET Friday, with no apparent sense of urgency that the government could be shutting down just 13 hours later and that as of now, there's no way that the bill that passed the House Thursday night is passed by the Senate today. The Democrats (minus one) are all opposed to it, and at least two Republicans are, too.
The bill can't get 50 Republican votes, much less the necessary 60. So you'd think Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would want to get to work right away to figure out a way to 60 votes. You'd think wrong. As soon as the House bill landed in the Senate last night, they voted to begin consideration of it, 97-2. (Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) voted against it, because they always vote against everything spending bills.) McConnell then filed for cloture, the vote that would indicate how far away from 60 votes he is. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer immediately asked that they move directly to that vote. McConnell objected and adjourned for the night, with no plan in sight for finding an agreement that could pass.
Democrats weren't the only ones angry about the process. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, said he was also frustrated citing the handling of DACA. He said he would support a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for a few days, but that a longer term one—like the one in the House-passed proposal—he would have a hard time supporting.
"I can't see voting yes on cloture," Flake told reporters.
Others—including Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine—said they were tired of continuing resolutions in general.
"We have to close this escape hatch and stop voting for CRs and tell leadership they have to make their deals and then we will get it done," King said. "I'd vote for one for a few days to do the paperwork, but to kick it down the road for another month, we're not going to know anything then that we don't know now."
There's a simple solution here, really. Put up the existing bipartisan bills on immigration and Children's Health Insurance, let them pass, then fund the government. But McConnell's not going to take the solution that can work. He's going to punish people.
Still, McConnell was drawing up contingency plans to keep the Senate in session through the weekend if Senate Democrats block a short-term spending bill before the Friday deadline, according to two GOP aides. Senate Republican leaders were working through scenarios that could force Democrats up for re-election in 2018 to take politically challenging votes for days after the missed deadline.
Never mind that he's also forcing his Republicans who are up for re-election in 2018 to take difficult votes and carry the responsibility of this shutdown. Meanwhile, House Republican leadership is ready to go home for the weekend, leaving McConnell holding the bag.
No, Republicans aren't going to be blamed at all for this shithole shutdown. House Republicans abandoning the sinking ship are sure going to be popular.