Campaign Action
Senate Democrats have secured a big concession from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: They will get a vote on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until Feb. 8 at the same time that the Senate also considers the Trump proposal to build a wall and end the asylum program as we know it. That’s the vote McConnell insisted over and over and over would not happen.
"People are saying isn't there a way out of this mess, isn't there a way to relieve the burden on the 800,000 federal workers not getting paid, isn't there a way to get government services open first and debate what we should do for border security later?" [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer said. "Well, now there's a way."
Both bills are subject to cloture, needing 60 votes on Thursday to make it to the full floor. One of them, Trump's proposal, won't get it. The second, the CR, very well could because it doesn't just include reopening the government; it includes disaster relief money for Gulf states—Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi—where there are eight Republican senators. Remember, though, this is the legislation McConnell swore he wouldn’t bring to the floor because Trump swore he would veto it.
The conventional wisdom is that McConnell has all his senators in line, and that he won't lose more than a couple in this vote. But that might be assuming all wrong. Hell, maybe Trump wants his State of the Union speech so badly, he's saying, Go ahead so my invitation is back on, and then we'll shut it all down again on Feb. 8.
But it makes our job crystal clear. If you have Republican senators (particularly if you live in one of the disaster-affected states), call and put the maximum pressure you can on them. Don't let up between now and Thursday afternoon.
Call your Republican senators at 202-224-3121 and tell them to reopen government. Don't stop until this is over.