Bills to pay federal workers stall, but senators ready to compromise

WASHINGTON — Key senators of both parties said they would try to find a way to pay all federal employees during the partial government shutdown after the Senate blocked consideration of dueling proposals Thursday.

Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who authored competing bills, talked up the possibility of brokering a compromise after both of their measures were blocked from advancing on the floor. But a provision in Van Hollen’s bill to prohibit the administration from conducting layoffs during the shutdown remained a key sticking point.

Johnson’s bill would allow paychecks to flow for troops and “excepted” federal employees who are required to work without pay during the shutdown. Van Hollen’s bill would also cover furloughed employees.

“I really don’t have an objection to paying furloughed workers,” Johnson told reporters. “They’re gonna get paid anyway. So let’s figure out those areas of agreement. I mean, we’re pretty darn close.”

Van Hollen likewise expressed support for finding a compromise. “All Democrats would like to move forward,” he said. “The difference is we don’t want any federal employee to be punished for a shutdown they have nothing to do with. And if we can find a way with Sen. Johnson, Republicans, to accomplish that goal, then we can.”

And Johnson appeared optimistic that a compromise could be reached in short order. “I think we can fix it over the weekend,” he said. “We can maybe even fix it today, but again, we’re gonna have to vote on things, but we will work hard.”

When asked if a compromise bill could get a vote next week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters: “We’ll see. I mean, if there’s headway made over the weekend, and obviously we’re coordinating with Ron and his team, and we’ll see where it goes.”

A compromise couldn’t come soon enough for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who are beginning to feel the squeeze of a partial government shutdown that is more than three weeks old. An Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, official said Thursday that “over 500,000 civilian federal employees will miss a full paycheck tomorrow.”

But a big hurdle to a deal centered on whether Republicans could stomach restricting President Donald Trump from laying off more workers during the shutdown, language that Democrats are seeking. White House budget director Russ Vought has said plans call for laying off more than 10,000 workers, although a federal judge has temporarily blocked more layoffs, known as reductions-in-force.

“Now it’s just kind of down to reductions in force, which, I don’t want to completely constrain the president, but I don’t mind making sure that Congress has a say in this as well,” Johnson said. “So I’m actually quite hopeful.”

And any bill that passes the Senate to pay federal workers would then require a vote in the House, which has been in recess since Sept. 19, when it passed a continuing resolution to extend government funding through Nov. 21. Senate Democrats have blocked that bill as they fight to extend enhanced health insurance subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.

“I’m quite sure they would,” Johnson said, when asked whether he thinks the House would come back in session if his bill passed the Senate. “I’ve heard publicly the speaker say he would do that if we passed this bill.”

The procedural vote to take up Johnson’s bill was 54-45, falling six votes short of the 60 required to advance the measure under Senate rules. Three Democrats — Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both of Georgia, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — joined all Republicans in support of the bill.

The legislation marked the latest effort by Republicans to force Democrats to make politically difficult votes as the shutdown drags on. And it comes as the Senate prepared to leave town for the weekend, ensuring the shutdown would continue at least into next week.

Democrats had countered Johnson with a pair of bills of their own.

In addition to the Van Hollen bill, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., had offered a more limited measure that would pay all federal workers only for the period from the Oct. 1 start of the shutdown to the day his legislation is enacted.

A Senate Democratic aide said the pair of bills was meant to provide two opportunities for Republicans to vote on legislation aimed at ensuring pay for all federal employees, as well as contractors and troops.

Both Democrats sought unanimous consent to take up their bills, but Johnson objected to both requests.

“I don’t think we should limit the chief executive’s ability to properly manage the federal government and make the tough decisions sometimes to reduce the workforce,” Johnson said. “Cut out some government functions.”

More relief bills on deck

Republicans could press Democrats again on the issue of paying federal employees. Thune has teed up two additional bills for potential consideration: one from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would compensate Transportation Security Administration employees and air traffic controllers, and another from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, that would pay troops.

Republicans on Thursday sought to highlight the strain the shutdown is putting on the aviation industry, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy making an appearance on Capitol Hill to discuss the staffing issues that have started to pile up, causing flight delays across the country.

Senators could face a vote on an additional pressure point – funding for the food stamps program. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has introduced a bill that would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and said he intends to ask for unanimous consent to either pass the measure or get a vote scheduled.

Thune has demurred on the possibility for a floor vote on that legislation. But state officials warned that SNAP funding is expected to dry up at the end of the month if the shutdown continues and no action is taken. Hawley said Thursday he had no commitment from leadership to take up his bill but was working on getting bipartisan support for it.

Thune was asked Thursday whether Republicans will move for more votes on individual bills like those offered by Sullivan and Cruz in the coming days to continue to up the pressure on Democrats during the shutdown.

“We’ll see,” he responded. “I mean, obviously the best answer to this, the best solution always, is open up the government. Everybody gets paid and make sure that anybody who’s working today gets paid.”

Work on full-year appropriations bills, meanwhile, has continued to stall after at one point seeming like a potential route out of the shutdown. And Democrats are doubling down on their resistance to the House-passed continuing resolution, with a 12th Senate vote on the measure coming up short yet again on Wednesday.

All the while, the Nov. 21 funding deadline included in the GOP stopgap bill is nearing, and Republicans have acknowledged that the shutdown is likely to force them to seek a longer funding extension.

(Sandhya Raman and Ariel Cohen contributed to this report.)