Washington barreled closer to a government shutdown late Thursday after a fragile Senate funding agreement collapsed under a Republican revolt, leaving leadership scrambling and lawmakers bracing for a partial closure this weekend.
What had been billed as a stopgap plan to keep the lights on unraveled fast. A deal backed by President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats was supposed to pull the Department of Homeland Security out of a broader funding package and extend its budget for two weeks. The idea was simple. Buy time. Negotiate border policy and DHS reforms later. Keep agencies open now.
It did not work.
Despite White House support and Democratic buy in, the package ran straight into a wall of GOP opposition. House approval was still required and time ran out. By Thursday night, the Senate floor was consumed by hold after hold and amendment after amendment as Republican frustration boiled over.
In the end, only one senator stood between the bill and passage. That senator refused to move.
Sen. Lindsey Graham walked into Majority Leader John Thune’s office and delivered a blunt verdict. He called the agreement a “bad deal.”
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