US Senate rejects Bill to restore federal worker pay, remains at odds over shutdown

WASHINGTON - The US Senate on Nov 7 rejected legislation that would resume paycheques for hundreds of thousands of federal workers during the

longest shutdown in US history,

as Democrats and Republicans remained at odds over how to reopen the government.

The measure received 53 “yes” votes to 43 “no” votes in the Republican-controlled chamber, short of the 60 “yes” votes it needed to advance.

Most Democrats voted against the Bill and argued it would give too much discretion to Republican US President Donald Trump, who has opted to pay military troops and immigration officers during the shutdown while threatening to withhold pay for other workers.

Three Democratic senators voted for the Bill: Mr Raphael Warnock and Mr Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and Mr Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico.

Labour unions representing federal workers had urged lawmakers to pass the Bill, saying the shutdown that began on Oct 1 was creating hardship for ordinary Americans.

“Every missed pay cheque deepens the financial hole in which federal workers and their families find themselves,” said Mr Everett Kelley, head of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a letter to senators.

Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan said that the Bill gave too much discretion for Mr Trump to withhold pay for some federal workers.

There was no sign the two sides were any closer to breaking the stalemate that led to the shutdown in the first place.

Democrats say any Bill that would restore government funding must also fund healthcare subsidies for 24 million Americans that are due to expire at the end of the year.

Republicans say Congress must first pass a funding Bill and allow the government to reopen.

The shutdown has furloughed about 750,000 federal employees, forced thousands more to work without pay and shut off food assistance and Head Start subsidies for millions of Americans, including children.

A new pressure point is expected to open in the days ahead, as major US airports brace themselves for a cut in airline flights due to a lack of pay for air traffic controllers.

Some Senate Republicans have floated a compromise that would reopen federal agencies on a temporary basis and fund some programmes for the full fiscal year, which began on Oct 1.

Democrats on Nov 7 responded with a proposal that would also extend the expiring healthcare subsidies for another year and set up a bipartisan committee to explore long-term health reforms.

But it was unclear whether either plan would draw the 60 votes needed to pass the 100-seat chamber.

“This shutdown is going to last a long time. What’s going to get us out of it?” Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said after the failed vote on Nov 7.

“There’s only one story here, which is that they (Republicans) will not sit down leader to leader to try to solve this,” said Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. REUTERS