Three members of the Senate Democratic caucus broke with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) on Tuesday and voted for a House Republican-drafted bill to fund the government through Nov. 21, showing that Democrats disagree on how hard to go after the Trump administration.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who is part of the Senate Democratic leadership team, voted for the GOP funding proposal together with Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Senator Angus King (Maine), an independent who works with Democrats.
The measure failed 55-45, even though it needed 60 votes to move forward.
Republicans will be introducing the bill again on Wednesday for a vote, where some believe even more Democrats could flip and pass the bill to re-open the government — which would be a brutal blow to Schumer.
Cortez Masto said she didn’t want to make things worse for her voters who are already having a hard time with rising costs and a faltering economy by putting the government at risk of shutting down.
“This administration doesn’t care about Nevadans, but I do. That’s why I cannot support a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration,” she said in a statement.
She said a government shutdown would “force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement agents and military nurses to work without pay” and that it would throw hundreds of union contractors at the Nevada National Security Site and across her state out of work.
King called the vote to keep the government open one of the toughest of his Senate career.
“I just came from the Senate floor where I took one of the most difficult votes I’ve taken since I’ve been in the Senate,” he said in a video statement. “Many feel that this was an opportunity to stand up to Donald Trump, to vote no and to fight back.