After a ninth failed vote government shutdown remains  

Today, the Senate voted again to try to pass the funding bill. On the 15th day of shutdown, the Republican legislatures did not receive the 60 votes in the Senate they needed to pass the bill. There have not been any flips over the aisle since the beginning of the shutdown.   

Senate Majority Leader John Thune initially voted no yesterday; however, this wasn’t a vote change; it was a strategic vote. In the Senate rules, a senator from the prevailing vote can make a move for reconsideration. The reconsideration, however, was not enough, and the vote landed on 51 yea to 44 nay. 

“Two-thirds of voters think democrats should reopen the government rather than hold out for their partisan demands,” said Thune before the vote. He continued, “And if just five more democrats would show some courage, we could do just that; we need five more democrats to say enough is enough.” 

None of the senators has broken for the opposing party yet, but Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, recently spoke out against her colleagues.  

“I’m not willing to let millions of Americans, people I personally know, constituents in my district, I’m not willing to allow their premiums to double and triple overnight starting in January of 2026,” said Greene on a recent podcast stop. 

Her departure from the Republican position won’t influence the Senate vote, but it does show Republicans are worried about the end of the tax credit. 

The hold in the Senate is caused by the democrats wanting the health insurance tax credits to continue because many of them will expire by the beginning of next year. Millions of Americans rely on these credits to afford their insurance premiums. It would cost 350 billion dollars over the next 10 years to cover what the democrats are proposing. 

Republicans say that they can have talks about the Affordable Care Act, but only after the reopening of the government. Their point is that the government’s health insurance subsidies went too far, and they need to be reeled in. They are looking for a temporary solution until they can agree on subsidies later in the year. 

A KFF analysis found an “increase from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.” 

Today, representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AOC, was at a CNN town hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders. They spoke about how the negotiations were going. 

“The Senate majority leader is John Thune— he should be negotiating with Chuck Schumer; President Donald Trump should be having congressional leaders in the White House.” AOC then said, “Republicans in the House have been on vacation for weeks now. We are here in Washington, D.C., we are ready to work, we are ready to strike a deal.” 

The vote is needed in the Senate, but a bipartisan compromise will be required, lest millions of Americans’ health insurance premiums double and the future of a governmental shutdown continue to be held in a stalemate.