Six GOP Senators Buck Trump As Competing Shutdown Measures Fail

Source: Talking Points Memo

A pair of competing Senate bills to reopen the government failed to pass on Thursday, the latest non-starter attempts that failed to start as the government shutdown stretches into its 34th day. But a half-dozen Republicans defected from their party to vote with Democrats, a sign of a growing split between President Trump and his party’s more institutional wing.

The votes were the first time the Senate has actually voted on the shutdown since it began in late December. And while the Democratic bill was nowhere near passing, the half-dozen Republicans splitting with their party were a sign that the growing pressure on the GOP may be shifting down-ballot Republicans away from their president.

The GOP bill got just 50 votes with 47 voting against, far short of the 60 needed. A Democratic bill to reopen the government through Feb. 8 without any strings attached failed as well, but got significantly more crossover support, winning 52 votes with 44 against. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) all bucked Trump to vote with the Democrats.

There were more GOP than Democratic defections on Republican bill. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was the only Democrat to vote for it. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), an immigration hardliner and normally a close Trump ally, voted against the bill from the right. Libertarian-leaning Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) also opposed it.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/back-to-square-one-senate-rejects-gops-government-shutdown-bill