Senate Vote to Avoid Shutdown Fails in 45-55 Vote

A Senate test vote meant to keep much of the federal government open failed on Thursday, and both parties are now racing a shutdown clock while haggling over how far to curb immigration enforcement.

• The procedural vote to move forward on a sweeping spending package failed 45–55, with all Democrats and eight Republicans opposed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune was among the "no" votes, though he entered a motion to reconsider the package, the Hill reports.

• The bill would bankroll the Pentagon, Health and Human Services, Education, and other major agencies, plus the Department of Homeland Security—the part Democrats want carved out so they can tighten rules on immigration agents after the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis, the Washington Post reports. Most of the government will start going dark in less than 36 hours without a deal.
• Democrats are pressing to fund DHS separately and only on a short-term basis while they negotiate new guardrails on enforcement, including limits on "roving" immigration patrols, warrant rules, body-camera requirements, a written code of conduct and independent investigations, and bans on agents wearing masks. The current package, negotiated before the Minneapolis shooting, keeps DHS money roughly flat at $64.4 billion and trims detention beds and some enforcement funds, but leaves out several reforms party leaders now say are non-negotiable.

• Both sides insist talks are making headway. "We don't want a shutdown," President Trump said at the start of Thursday's Cabinet meeting, per the AP. He said he thinks they're "getting close," and Thune called discussions "very constructive," but even a breakthrough would almost certainly come too late to stop a partial shutdown from starting this weekend, the Post reports. Any revised Senate bill would have to go back to the House, which isn't due back until Monday and is itself split over whether to separate DHS funding and how far to go in reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• Asked about the possibility of a short-term DHS funding extension to give lawmakers more time for talks, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said an extension "cannot be endless, and it cannot be long, and that's the most that I'll say about it," reports the New York Times.