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U.S. Senate blocks stopgap bill to fund government

 
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nev. speaks to reporters during a Sept. 13 news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats opened a last-minute push Tuesday for new talks on must-do legislation to prevent the government from shutting down this weekend, fight the Zika virus and help flood-ravaged Louisiana rebuild. [Associated Press]
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nev. speaks to reporters during a Sept. 13 news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats opened a last-minute push Tuesday for new talks on must-do legislation to prevent the government from shutting down this weekend, fight the Zika virus and help flood-ravaged Louisiana rebuild. [Associated Press]
Published Sept. 27, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Senate has blocked a spending bill needed to keep the government open beyond Friday's midnight deadline.

Most Democrats and at least 10 Republicans voted to block the bill, which also funds the fight against the Zika virus. Democrats are demanding money to help Flint, Michigan, address its lead-tainted water crisis.

The 45-55 vote on Tuesday stalls the stopgap bill — for now. Republican leaders are promising to address the Flint issue after the election in a separate water bill, but Democrats refuse to take them at their word.

The bill includes $500 million to help Louisiana after last month's flooding.

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This is a developing story. Our earlier coverage continues below.

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WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday threatened to block must-do legislation to prevent the government from shutting down Friday at midnight, battle the Zika virus and help flood-ravaged Louisiana rebuild.

The aim is to pressure Republicans to add money to the stopgap spending bill to give Flint, Michigan, immediate help with its water crisis instead of settling for promises from top Republicans that the city will receive aid after the election.

Without progress on the Flint water issue, Democrats are poised to block the funding bill Tuesday afternoon, a step that could increase the chances of a shutdown at midnight Friday. They are pressing to reopen negotiations and add a bipartisan, Senate-passed measure to provide $220 million to help Flint and other communities with lead-poisoned water replace pipes and take other steps.

Democrats say it's unfair that the water crisis in Flint has gone on for a year with no assistance, while Louisiana is getting $500 million for floods that occurred just last month as part of the 10-week stopgap bill, called a "CR" (for "continuing resolution") in Washington code.

"Democrats have been clear that Congress should not leave Flint and other lead-tainted communities out of any (stopgap spending) negotiation that includes emergency disaster funding," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other top Democrats in a Tuesday morning letter to McConnell. "Our request is simple: include both bipartisan disaster relief packages for consideration in the CR. We urge you to include bipartisan Flint legislation in the CR."

If Democrats filibuster the spending legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has just a handful of options. The most obvious include yielding and offering Democrats some or all of the funding for Flint, or stripping $500 million in flood aid for Louisiana and other states from the bill. McConnell has made numerous concessions in weeks of negotiations on the measure, agreeing, for instance, to drop controversial provisions from the Zika funding bill that led Democrats to filibuster an earlier Zika funding bill this summer and earlier this month.

"Can it really be that Democratic leaders have embraced dysfunction so thoroughly that they'd tank a noncontroversial, 10-week funding bill over — well, what exactly?" Asked McConnell as he opened the Senate on Tuesday. "It's almost as if a few Democratic leaders decided long ago that bringing our country to the brink would make for good election-year politics."

Republicans say the Flint issue will be handled in a separate measure to authorize water development projects. That measure — without Flint money — is set for a House floor debate Tuesday, but Republicans are telegraphing it will be included in any final measure handled in a post-election session. But GOP leaders on Monday night leaders blocked Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — who represents Flint — from getting a vote on the Senate measure.

"We are going to deal with Flint," said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Monday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Tuesday said that the water development bill "is the better place to address this."

Ryan, however, didn't rule out adding some or all of the Flint funding sought by Democrats to the stopgap spending bill. "I'm not going to get into the particulars about negotiations," Ryan said. And some House Republicans such as Tom Cole of Oklahoma are open to addressing the Flint issue in the stopgap spending bill. "It's going to get solved one way or the other," Cole said. "So it seems to me we ought to just take care of it and move ahead on the CR."