GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DAY 27 UPDATE

Today marks day 27 of the federal government shutdown, and Congress has now voted 12 times in an effort to reopen the government.

On Thursday, October 23rd the Senate voted on S.3012 – the Shutdown Fairness Act, a bill introduced by Republicans that would have provided funding for essential federal workers and active duty military during the shutdown. The measure failed to reach the sixty votes required to advance, falling short by six Democrat votes.

Earlier last week, on October 21st, the Senate heard S.3024 – the Keep SNAP Funded Act, another Republican introduced bill designed to continue SNAP benefits throughout the shutdown. The bill was read and referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which currently has no hearing scheduled for it. However, since this is considered an urgency bill, there is hope that the committee will schedule a hearing as soon as possible.

During today’s Senate session, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stated that members of Congress should not be collecting pay while federal workers remain unpaid, and she urged her colleagues to forgo long weekends and remain in Washington until the shutdown is resolved. Many Republicans have already done this and are not being paid.

Meanwhile, H.R. 5371 – the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, which would have reopened the government, failed to advance for debate in the Senate today, with many seats in the chamber remaining empty during the vote.

#GovernmentShutdown #SNAP #ShutdownFairnessAct #KeepSNAPFundedAct #HR5371 #Congress #Senate #LisaMurkowski #EssentialWorkers #PayOurWorkers #EndTheShutdown #Politics #BreakingNews #USPolitics #CapitolHill #Accountability #Leadership #NewsUpdate #ViralPolitics