On Thursday afternoon, Senate Democrats had an extensive meeting for over three hours during a special caucus lunch led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer from New York. The main topic on the table was a potential deal to get the government back up and running. However, a lot of Democrats are expressing that they need to see bigger concessions from the Republicans if they’re going to get on board.
This gathering took place in the Capitol, and it was timed right before a 5 p.m. EST vote on a resolution put forth by Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), which aims to prevent U.S. armed forces from being involved in any conflicts related to Venezuela.
The upcoming vote in the late afternoon will allow Democratic senators some crucial time to figure out if they can strike a deal that would clear the way to reopen the government before the weekend.
During this meeting, the group was set to delve into the specifics of the compromise package that they had only broadly discussed in their earlier Tuesday caucus lunch.
As Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) put it before the gathering, “All the meetings are pretty much the same: we’re actively talking about how to put an end to this situation.”
In the earlier week, Durbin noted that the Democratic Senators had a chance to touch on the general outlines of a possible deal. Yet, he also expressed concern, remarking, “There are a ton of questions that still need answers. For us to move forward and actually nail down an agreement, we have some serious work to do today.”
Morning remarks from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) indicated that the spotlight was now on the Democrats, suggesting that the Republicans were not likely to budge with more concessions anytime soon.
Thune told the press that the Senate might stay active throughout the weekend only if it appeared feasible to come to a resolution for ending the shutdown in the immediate future, but he acknowledged that this seemed less likely as time passes.
“We’ll see if there’s a viable way to wrap this up over the weekend,” he stated. “The choice is in their hands, and it’s up to them now.”
<pFurthermore, Thune didn't rule out postponing the Senate's planned Veterans Day break, which kicks off on Friday and is expected to last for a week. Republican senators, meanwhile, have been advised to keep their weekend plans open in case they are needed in Washington on Saturday and Sunday – potentially extending into the next week – to find a resolution.
Following Thursday’s meeting, Thune expressed hope to garner “ten or more” Democratic votes to support the government reopening. “They’ve got their big meeting scheduled today. Let’s hope they emerge with ten votes or so that are ready to back the reopening. We’ll find out soon enough,” he remarked.
Senate Republican aides project that processing any bipartisan agreement to reopen the government could take as long as five days. They will need to secure a total of 60 votes on three different motions: to move forward with the legislative approach, to propose an alternative amendment, and to wrap up discussions on the comprehensive package.
Updated at 3 p.m.
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