President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., as he departs accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence after a Senate Republican Policy luncheon, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.Associated Press/Alex Brandon- The US Senate rejected two funding bills, one Democrats introduced and one by Republicans proposed, to end the government shutdown.
- The Senate failed 50-47 to achieve the 60 votes required to end debate on a Republican bill to fund the wall and enact a number of immigration restrictions.
- A continuing resolution Democrats introduced to extend last year's federal budget also did not pass, but got more votes than the Republican legislation - failing 52-47 with the support of six Republicans.
On the 33rd day of partial government shutdown, the US Senate voted on two bills to reopen the government. Both failed.
The first bill was one backed by President Donald Trump that included funding for his long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border. It fell short of the necessary 60 votes.
The final vote to end debate on Thursday was 50-47, with Joe Manchin of West Virginia casting the sole Democratic yea vote, and Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Tom Cotton of Arkansas voting no.The legislation, which included a number of additional immigration restrictions in addition to wall funding, was widely condemned by Democrats as a bad-faith attempt to re-open the government by adding several "poison pills."
The bill would have, among other things, required unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the United States to apply in their home countries and deport those who appeared at the border, and reduced the number of people eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections.
"No one - no one - can call this a new effort at compromise," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement before the votes.
The Senate also rejected a continuing resolution that Senate Democrats brought to the floor to re-open the government by extending last year's appropriations - without funding for the wall. It also required 60 votes to pass.
Even though the Republican party controls the Senate 53-47, the Democratic proposal to re-open the government secured more yes votes than the Republican bill, failing 52-44.Six Republican Senators voted for the Democratic continuing resolution.