Government shutdown to remain on Monday, but Senate moves closer to short-term CR
Jason Miller@jmillerWFED
Get the latest news about the government shutdown first. Sign up for our breaking news alerts.
The Senate adjourned Sunday night with a plan to vote on a continuing resolution at 12 p.m. on Monday, thus pushing the government shutdown into its third day.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for a 10 p.m. vote on the current continuing resolution bill from the House, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected. So McConnell asked for debate on a cloture vote to begin again at 10 a.m. on Monday on a new bill.
The bill under consideration at that time would reopen the government through Feb. 8, giving the Senate time to work on immigration issues, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
"We have an agreement that the Majority Leader just announced that if an agreement on immigration has not been reached at that time, that the Majority Leader using his discretion and his authority as Majority Leader we will move to immigration and at that time we can deal with the DACA issue and the broader immigration issues generally," said. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on the Senate floor Sunday night. "That moving to immigration, my understanding is and I believe the commitment is not to prejudice one bill over another. Anyone can bring forward their bill. There are several of us working on a bipartisan bill. I believe we have 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats on that effort now. That legislation will be considered as will others, as it should be."
Flake said he plans to vote to reopen the government tomorrow.
In the meantime, agencies told some employees to show up to begin an orderly shutdown on Monday. Funding lapsed on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. leading to a partial shutdown.
'[E]ither you were exempt and you were to come to work either today or Monday, depending on your ordinary work schedule; you were absolutely furloughed, in which case you were not to come to work beginning today and going over to Monday; or there's actually another group of people that would show up for a few hours on Monday or today, up to four hours, in order to close down shop or prepare for the lapse. So those notices went out today," said Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Management and Budget director on Saturday.
Some agencies have told all employees to show up for work on Monday, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department. Other agencies have furloughed agencies that do not need to take part in the orderly shutdown process.
On Sunday, lawmakers pledged not to take a salary during the government shutdown or donate their paychecks to charity.
Jason Miller is executive editor of Federal News Network and directs news coverage on the people, policy and programs of the federal government.
Follow @jmillerWFED
If the shutdown continues, feds should report to work on Monday, but after that it depends
Government Shutdown Read more
Government shuts down as Senate fails to pass spending bill
Senators introduce bill to withhold congressional pay during shutdown
All News Chuck Schumer Congress continuing resolution Government Shutdown Jeff Flake Management Mick Mulvaney Mitch McConnell Office of Management and Budget Senate Workforce