Sen. Rand Paul talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
It’s about speed.
Buckle up for this next part. It gets complicated.
The vote last night was on breaking a filibuster to proceed to the original House-passed spending measure from September. That needed 60 yeas.
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO WHAT TO EXPECT TONIGHT ON THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a press conference with Senate Republican leadership following a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
But we’re not done yet.
If the Senate adopts the new text on Friday, then Thune must file cloture again on the underlying bill on Friday, wait a day (Saturday) and then have a vote to break a filibuster on that (again needing 60 votes) Sunday.
This scenario means that the Senate would finally pass the newly revamped spending bill next Monday. And it would mean that the House doesn’t tackle the bill until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
So it really stretches out the government shutdown.
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That said, this is probably not going to happen. That’s doing things by the book.
But it’s also why it’s in the interest of Thune to get a deal with Paul to accelerate things. Otherwise, Paul or the Democrats who oppose the bill can really slow things down and extend the shutdown.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/reporters-notebook-paul-stands-firm-against-spending-bill-shutdown-clock-ticks