Government shutdown looms as Senate votes against stopgap funding bill

The Senate rejected a short-term funding bill, which was approved by majority-holding House Republicans, that would have kept the government running till mid-November.

The lawmakers voted 44–48 to defeat the bill, which included $88 million to protect lawmakers, executive branch officials, and the Supreme Court in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Instead, Democrats introduced an alternative bill that also failed. Their plan would have funded the government through October 31 and demanded additional funding for healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and the restoration of funding cut from the Medicaid healthcare program for lower-income Americans.

The Congress is in recess till October 1, the day the current funding expires.