The Senate is racing to avoid the third government shutdown of the year ahead of a looming end-of-the-month deadline.
Senators on Tuesday voted 93-7 to pass a sweeping $854 billion spending bill that includes funding for the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Education, which make up the lion’s share of total government spending.
Six Republican senators — Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul(Ky.), David Perdue (Ga.), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) — joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in voting against the bill, which also includes a short-term stopgap bill to fund the rest of the government through Dec. 7 and prevent a shutdown that would start Oct. 1.
Passage of the sweeping package of defense and domestic spending marks a significant victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who has dedicated weeks of floor time to government funding and avoiding another catch-all omnibus bill less than two months before the midterm election, where control of Congress hangs in the balance. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) just made a decision that will likely hurt the Democrats’ odds in November, all while pushing through more of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.
In fact, while many Democrats were preparing their protests and disruptions for Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, McConnell struck a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to fast-track 15 judges.
In his latest savage move, according to Politico, the senator plans to keep the Senate in session through October to allow for approval to fill more judicial vacancies, greatly reducing the campaign time available for senators running for re-election. Many of those senators are Democrats.
McConnell told NBC that many of the Senate races in 2018 are like “a knife fight in an alley.” – READ MORE
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