The Senate is now taking up the continuing resolution to keep government funded past Monday in a
series of four votes.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) set up a final vote Thursday evening, after he and many members of both parties tried to convince Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) to vote Thursday.
Cruz and Lee rejected that idea and said they want a Friday vote for all the world to see. As a result, the Senate will hold four votes Friday, the first being on a motion to end debate on the resolution.
Next will be a vote on a motion to waive a budget point of order. After that, the Senate votes on a substitute amendment from Reid, which will remove the ObamaCare language. And finally, a vote on final passage of the resolution as amended.
Then it's back to the House, where Speaker John Boehner
doesn't seem to have any idea what to do. The likeliest bet is that he'll put through a week-long, status quo funding bill to keep the lights on for another week while he diddles around trying to figure out some way to both keep his conference happy and pass a bill that the Senate will accept (not to mention hanging on to his precious gavel).
Join Daily Kos and the DCCC and tell John Boehner: It’s time to cut the tea party loose and work with Democrats to keep the government funded and avoid a disastrous default.
9:57 AM PT: They've voted for cloture to end the debate and move on to amending and passing the bill, 79-19. The next vote is another procedural one, waiving a budget point of order.
10:14 AM PT: Ok, the budget point of order was waived with a 68-30, vote, and now we're on to the amendment that will remove the Obamacare defunding language and shorten the funding period from December 15 to November 15. That's a simple majority vote. (Democrats want to come back with it sooner to try to end the sequester.)
10:29 AM PT: They vote to restore funding to Obamacare, 54-44. Now they'll vote on final passage.
10:50 AM PT: Senate Democrats successfully vote to keep the government lights on, 54-44. "Shut 'er down!!!!" is the GOP rallying cry. Now it's back to the House. (The two senators who have missed these votes are Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Flake is at his son's wedding. Don't know what's up with Hatch.)