Senate leader says potential shutdown deal coming together but no guarantees

Senate majority leader John Thune was speaking as he walked in to open the chamber for a rare Sunday session (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

The Republican leader in the US senate said a potential deal was “coming together” on the government shutdown but that there was no guarantee it would end an impasse now stretching to 40 days.

There have been few signs of progress over the weekend that could be crucial in a funding fight that has disrupted flights nationwide, threatened food assistance for millions of Americans and left federal workers without pay.

Top Republicans are working to present a legislative package that would reopen the government into January while also approving full-year funding for several parts of government.

The necessary Democratic support for that effort was far from certain.

Senate majority leader John Thune was speaking ahead of a rare Sunday session for the chamber (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

“A deal is coming together,” senate majority leader John Thune said as he walked in to open the chamber for a rare Sunday session.

But the Republican senator warned that it was not a done deal. Senators insisted on time to read over the proposals and it could be hours before there was any action.

“We’ll see where the votes are,” Mr Thune said.

Democratic leaders are pushing hard for an extension of subsidies for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Republicans have rejected that offer, but signalled an openness to an emerging proposal from a small group of moderate Democrats to end the shutdown in exchange for a later vote on the “Obamacare” subsidies that make coverage more affordable.

For those enrolled in health exchanges under that law, premiums on average are expected to more than double next year if Congress allows the enhanced subsidies to lapse.

US President Donald Trump has made it clear he is unlikely to compromise any time soon (Evan Vucci/AP)

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the pledge to hold a vote on extending the subsidies would be a “wasteful gesture” unless “you have the commitment of the speaker of the house that he will support it and that the president of the United States will sign it”.

US President Donald Trump has made it clear he is unlikely to compromise any time soon.

On Sunday, he pressed Republicans once more to abolish the senate’s filibuster rules that prevent the chamber from advancing on most legislation unless there is support from 60 senators.

“Be the Smart Party,” he said in a social media post.

Democrat senator Jeanne Shaheen and others have been discussing bills that would pay for parts of government — food aid, veterans programmes and the legislative branch, among other things — and extend funding for everything else until December or January.

The agreement would only come with the promise of a future healthcare vote.

It was unclear whether enough Democrats would support such a plan.

The shutdown has disrupted flights across the US (Gabrielle Lurie/AP)

Even with a deal, Mr Trump appears unlikely to support an extension of the health benefits.

House speaker Mike Johnson has said he would not commit to a health vote.

Republican leaders in the Senate only need five additional votes to fund the government, and the group involved in the talks has ranged from 10 to 12 Democratic senators.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the Covid 19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. They argue that subsidies for the plans should be routed through individuals.

“The worst healthcare for the highest price,” Mr Trump called the current system in a post on Sunday.

Mr Trump wants Republicans to end the shutdown quickly and scrap the filibuster so they can bypass Democrats altogether.

Vice president JD Vance, a former Ohio senator, said Republicans who wanted to keep the filibuster were “wrong”.

But Republicans have rejected Mr Trump’s call, with Republican senator James Lankford telling NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday that because of the filibuster, “the senate is the only place in our government where both sides have to talk to each other. That’s a good thing for America”.

House speaker Mike Johnson has said he would not commit to a health vote (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)

Mr Thune is eyeing a bipartisan package that mirrors the proposal the moderate Democrats have been sketching out.

What Mr Thune, who has refused to negotiate, might promise on healthcare is unknown.

The package would replace the house-passed legislation that the Democrats have rejected 14 times since the shutdown began on October 1.

The current bill would only extend government funding until November 21.

A test vote on new legislation could come in the next few days if Mr Thune decides to move forward.

Then Democrats would have a crucial choice: Keep fighting for a meaningful deal on extending the subsidies that expire in January, while prolonging the pain of the shutdown? Or vote to reopen the government and hope for the best as Republicans promise an eventual healthcare vote, but not a guaranteed outcome.

Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer argues Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.

“Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker,” Mr Schumer said on Saturday.

“That’s what will happen if this Congress fails to act.”