Democrats block Defense spending bill as shutdown tensions rise

Senate Democrats voted Thursday to block the annual, full-year Defense appropriations bill, despite the measure passing out of committee with strong bipartisan support earlier this year.

The vote is the latest sign of deteriorating bipartisan relations on Capitol Hill as the government shutdown drags into a third week.

The Senate voted 50-44 against proceeding to the bill after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected to considering the Defense spending bill without also voting on the annual Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. It needed 60 votes to advance.

“It’s always been unacceptable to Democrats to do the Defense bill without other bills that have so many things that are important to the American people in terms of health care, in terms of housing, in terms of safety,” Schumer told reporters before the vote.

Three centrist Democrats voted to advance the measure: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (Pa.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

Cortez Masto and Fetterman have previously voted for a House-passed bill to reopen the government while Shaheen has been at the center of talks with Republican colleagues about finding a deal to end the shutdown. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) threw a curveball into negotiations over ending the shutdown Wednesday when he teed up the full-year funding bill, surprising Democrats and daring them to vote against a measure that would allow military service members to be paid.

Several centrist members of the Democratic caucus were on the fence about voting to proceed to the Defense bill while they were awaiting word on whether it would be paired with the Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill other non-defense appropriations bills.

“I’m still trying to determine what the plan is. If the plan is to bring forth as a substitute the Senate [defense] bill and the Labor [Health and Human Services] bill, then yes. If the plan is to simply run [the defense bill] by itself, then the answer is no,” Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said when asked whether he would vote to advance the defense measure.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) also said before the vote that he was uncertain how he would vote until he knew more about how the Defense bill would be packaged with other bills.

The $852 billion Defense appropriations bill passed out of committee with strong bipartisan support in July, advancing by a vote of 26-3.

Thune framed Thursday's vote as an important opportunity to pay more than a million military service members who are at risk of missing paychecks during an extended shutdown.

“If we can’t reopen the entire government, we can at least make some progress toward securing paychecks for our troops and for defending our country,” he said on the Senate floor before the vote.

President Trump over the weekend said he has directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to ensure members of the military get paid during the shutdown.  

Senators in both parties, however, don’t have much information about what funds the Trump administration is tapping into or what legal authority it’s relying upon.

The vote on the defense bill followed an earlier vote on a House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21. Senate Democrats defeated that measure for the 10th time.

The Senate is expected to adjourn for the week and reconvene on Monday to resume the debate over reopening the government.