Thune says “minibus” package of appropriations bills is “almost ready”
Thune told reporters that the GOP conference is working to finalize the text of the “minibus,” or the package of three appropriations bills that Republicans hope will entice moderate Democrats to vote to advance the continuing resolution that would reopen the government. He said the text of the package should be released soon.
“The question is whether we can have everything ready to go, and I’ve been talking all morning with some of the folks that are involved with the mini and I think we’re getting close to having it ready,” he said. “We just need to get the text out there. But, you know, it’d be, ideally, it’d be great to set it up so we could vote today, but we’ve got to have the votes to actually pass it. So we’ll see how the day goes, and as people have an opportunity to firm up their views when the text is out there, then I think we’ll know with better certainty.”
In terms of timing, Thune declined to specify when the chamber might try to take up the package, but didn’t rule out a vote later today.
Thune says Senate will stay in until government is reopened
Thune told reporters after speaking on the Senate floor that the chamber will stay in town until the government is reopened, suggesting they could forgo their planned Veterans Day recess this coming week.
When asked if he was still considering sending senators home for the recess, Thune said “no,” adding that “we’re going to vote on the minibus,” though he said there isn’t a definitive timeframe for the package of appropriations bills. First, Republicans have to release the text, Thune said.
“Are you going to stay in until the government is reopened?” a reporter asked.
“Yeah,” Thune replied.
Thune reiterates opposition to Democrats’ health care offer, says “there’s still only one path out”
Thune took to the floor and reiterated his opposition to Democrats’ offer to reopen the government in exchange for an extension of health care subsidies. He recounted the history of Obamacare and framed the subsidies as a Democratic effort to alleviate high prices caused by the Affordable Care Act.
“They created this cliff, and now they want to blame Republicans for their break. Give me a break,” the South Dakota Republican said. “The Democrats’ proposal is just more of the same: masking rising premiums and padding insurance companies’ profits with more taxpayer dollars.”
He referred to the tax credits that Democrats are seeking to extend as “Biden bonuses.” And he said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s proposal is “a nonstarter,” adding that “there’s still only one path out — it’s a clean funding extension.”
“We reopen, and then we can start talking about addressing the health care mess that Democrats created,” Thune said.
The majority leader said he was “glad to see that after 38 days, Democrats are finally warming up to the idea that their shutdown can’t go on forever.”
“And I urge my colleagues to support a clean continuing resolution so we can start a real discussion to address their health care mess, get back to the regular appropriations process and, above all, finally provide relief to the American people,” he added.
Saturday’s session is the 4th in the Senate this year
Today’s session of the Senate is the fourth time this year that senators have met on a Saturday, according to a list compiled by the chamber’s secretary.
The most recent Saturday meeting was on Aug. 2, when the Senate took 15 votes on a variety of legislation and nominations to clear the decks ahead of the August recess. Before that, senators met on June 28 to work on advancing the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They also convened for three hours on Jan. 25 to consider a pair of Cabinet nominations.
The Senate has held 129 Saturday sessions since 1968, including today’s, according to the secretary’s list.
Senate convenes, with votes possible
The Senate convened at noon with an invocation from the chamber’s chaplain and the pledge of allegiance.
No votes are currently scheduled, but a notice from Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office said votes are “possible” during the Saturday session.
Talks to end shutdown continue after GOP rejected Democrats’ offer
Bipartisan talks to reach an agreement to end the shutdown are expected to continue Saturday after Republicans rejected an offer from Democrats Friday to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of health insurance tax credits.
Thune told CBS News the offer is a “nonstarter,” stressing that there is a proposal on the table that a group of bipartisan senators have been circling.
“We need to vote to open the government. And there is a proposal out there to do that, and then we can have this whole conversation about health care,” Thune said.
The contours of the deal to end the stalemate began emerging earlier this week, with a possible agreement that would fund the government alongside long-term appropriations bills in exchange for a vote on extending health insurance tax credits that Democrats have demanded. But while some moderates have been eager to find a solution to reopen the government, others in the caucus appear emboldened by the party’s sweep in key races in Tuesday’s elections, pushing to hold out longer in the shutdown fight in an effort to extract further concessions.
Though Senate GOP leaders planned to move ahead with a vote on the continuing resolution Friday, with a plan to amend the bill to include the full-year funding measures if it advanced, the vote never materialized. Instead, Senate Republicans tried to advance a measure to pay federal workers who are working during the shutdown on Friday, which failed to reach the 60-vote threshold, picking up support from just three Democrats.
Whether the chamber votes Saturday remains to be seen.
“We’ll see if something comes together that we can vote on,” Thune told reporters Friday night.
Trump urges Senate Republicans to end Obamacare
In a Truth Social post on Saturday morning, President Trump said he was recommending Senate Republicans end the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
He said the money used to fund the program should be sent directly to members of the American public instead of “money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare.”
“In other words, take it from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Trump criticized the ACA as “the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World.” He added that Congress “must still terminate the Filibuster!”
Supreme Court temporarily freezes order requiring Trump administration to provide full SNAP payments
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday froze, for now, a lower court order that required the Trump administration to swiftly provide full federal food benefits to roughly 42 million Americans.
The order from Jackson is temporary. She said it will give a federal appeals court more time to consider whether to provide the Trump administration with longer emergency relief while an appeal in the dispute over payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program moves forward.
The Supreme Court’s late-stage intervention came as the Trump administration closed in on an end-of-day deadline, set by a district court judge Thursday, to cover in full food assistance for November and use roughly $4 billion for other nutrition programs to do so. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit had temporarily left in place the lower court’s decision, after which the Justice Department sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
Read more here.