Senate Democrats Embrace Hardball on Shutdown

“Senate Democrats left a private meeting Wednesday saying there aren’t enough votes to advance the short-term funding bill that passed the House on Tuesday,” Axios reports.

“This raises the chances of a government shutdown this weekend. Democrats are in the unusual position of being willing to risk a shutdown to negotiate a better deal with Republicans.”

Said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA): “Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. So that’s what we are insisting on to vote for cloture. There are not the votes right now to pass it.”

New York Times: “Any changes to the bill would require the House to approve it — but House Republicans purposefully left town after passing the legislation.”