5 Democratic Votes vs. Ending Filibuster—What's More Likely?

The government shutdown is just a few days away from breaking the previous longest shutdown record of 35 days. Joining us to discuss is Nathan Worooster, national political reporter at the Epoch Times. Uh so Nathan, good afternoon. Uh President Trump urges Senate Republicans to end the filibuster. Uh House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to that with some reluctance. Uh can you tell us more about the response to ending the filibuster? >> Sure. And I should say Johnson has now been joined by the Senate Majority Leader John Thun as well as the Senate Majority Whip John Baraso. We're seeing a pretty consistent theme here. Defense of the filibuster generally along the lines that this has proven to be a durable institution that protects the minority, whoever it happens to be, and really ensures that the Senate remains a forum for discussion. This is something we've heard consistently despite in recent weeks chatter from some Senate Republicans and also from John Federman about the desire to create some sort of a carveout, something that would allow this continuing resolution to fund the government to make it across the line. >> So Nathan, on the flip side, what is the level of support for this right now? >> Well, it's interesting. Uh, as I said, John Federman, he has come out as someone very much in favor of it. You also have some of the more conservative House Freedom Caucus people in the House who are defending it. It should be emphasized that they like Johnson really have no say when it comes to the filibuster because that is a Senate matter. But just recently, Chip Roy, he in a press conference with reporters stressed that he feels there should be something to ensure that the 60 vote threshold is not an issue just for say funding the government. And it should be noted that when it comes to this particular bill, the Republicans have managed to get three senators who caucus with Democrats, including Federman, but they have not been able to hit that 60 vote threshold. And thus, the shutdown, this lapse in government funding has continued to drag on for weeks. So, Nathan, uh, all things considered, let me ask you this. What's easier in your mind for ending the shutdown for Republicans? um getting five votes or ending the filibuster. >> Well, this past week it has seemed as though chatter was picking up. Some of that has to do with some major deadlines coming up. The potential at least for SNAP benefits, food stamps to stop flowing to 40 plus million Americans is the big one. Although a judge has just ruled that the USDA must disperse funds. So, we'll see how that plays out. and also the beginning of open enrollment for insurance when Americans could be looking at potentially much higher premiums. The big issue for Democrats has been an attempt to negotiate the Obamacare or ACA premium tax subsidies, which Republicans say that they can do just as soon as the government is reopened. I so I think looking right now at the state of play getting those five votes that seems more plausible than a change to the filibuster certainly now that we have a lot of prominent Senate Republicans also John Curtis and James Langford the vice chair of the Republican conference coming out in strong support of the filibuster. >> So Nathan, can you tell us a little bit more about the current funding proposals that are being debated? Republicans continuing resolution to maintain current funding versus Democrats proposal to increase healthc care spending. >> Yes. So uh at the very beginning of this shutdown drama, we had these competing bills uh both appearing quite frequently for votes. The Republican continuing resolution or CR, this would basically maintain current funding which Rand Paul and Thomas Massie, two more libertarian leaning Republicans, they objected to that. They said that this is the maintenance of Biden era funding. And by contrast, the Democrats bill that would address those ACA subsidies along with other issues on health care, uh Medicaid, for example. And Republicans can look at that and they can say uh accurately that this would roll back many of the things that they accomplished over the summer through their reconciliation bill, which of course by its very nature as a reconciliation bill, it was just a product of Republicans negotiating with Republicans. It was a a mechanism essentially for Republicans to be able to get get something across the line in the Senate with a simple majority rather than uh having the sort of partisan standoff that we're seeing right now between the GOP and the Democrats. >> So Nathan, can I ask you uh what is the most pressing matter right now or matters um that's creating urgency pushing lawmakers to to get the government open? >> Well, there are a few things. I mentioned SNAP and the open enrollment period for health insurance, but two others would be air traffic control. Just recently, air traffic controllers received a Z paycheck. And so, understandably, many of them are going absent. They're uh working other jobs to put food on their tables. And that's driving a lot of flight cancellations and delays. And certainly, if the shutdown continues through Thanksgiving, we could see a real fiasco at the nation's airports along with concerns over safety. And then aside from that, military pay. There's remained a bit of a question mark over that. Vice President Vance just recently said that the military's payday, which is in fact the 31st, is is going to be met this time. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, he recently cautioned that given what they have been able to do so far, they could run out of funds, they could be unable to pay the troops at the November 15th pay date. So those are two other big factors to keep an eye on. >> Okay. So, in regards to SNAP, uh, will the Department of Agriculture use contingency funds to keep SNAP running? We just got news that, uh, the federal government has been ordered to do so. >> Yes. And this was a big point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. Uh just this morning, Agriculture Secretary Broo Rollins, she appeared alongside Speaker Johnson to argue that in fact legally the administration is not authorized to use that contingency fund because it's ultimately contingent on a funding stream that was not effectively reauthorized. But of course, now we've seen this move from a judge at this late hour ahead of the possible pause in SNAP benefits. So, it certainly seems as though uh all else being equal, unless there's an appeal or some other other development very soon, that those SNAP funds will be coming and I imagine they would be coming from that contingency fund. >> Well, all right, Nathan, uh always great to speak with you. Thank you for your time today. >> Absolutely, Don. Glad to be on as always.