Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats were unwilling to support the bill. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters)
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats were unwilling to support the bill and argued that they wanted a guarantee on exactly which other spending bills would be added on to it down the line.
"They need unanimous consent to add anything to the defense bill," Schumer said before the vote. "They don’t have it."
Thune and Senate Republicans floated adding additional spending bills, like measures to fund Transportation, the Health and Human Services and Labor Departments, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce, but first needed to blast through the procedural hurdle to do so.
REPUBLICANS PUSH TO PAY TROOPS, REOPEN GOVERNMENT AS DEMOCRATS BALK
Sen. Mark Kelly speaks with reporters while waiting to catch the Senate subway to the Hart Senate Office Building from the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024, in Washington. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Like their argument with extending Obamacare subsidies, they demanded guarantees on what exactly Republicans would attach to the bill — a position that stemmed from an overall lack of trust between the parties that has ripped the partisan divide open even further this year.
"We don't have an agreement on anything," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. "So obviously we can't. They're still not negotiating."
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Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., similarly argued that there was no bipartisan agreement on what exactly the package would look like.
"We should be focused on fixing these healthcare premiums and getting the government back open," he said. "And, you know, just to bring up the one bill without the others is something we typically don't do."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-dems-tank-gop-plan-pay-troops-fund-pentagon-shutdown-hits-day-16