Democrats are expected to oppose the GOP plan as they seek a better deal.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told fellow Republicans in a private lunch that he plans to hold a vote Friday that could pave the way to end the government shutdown, according to two people in the room who were granted anonymity to describe his comments.
The plan, the people said, is to bring up the House-passed continuing resolution that Democrats have repeatedly rejected and then seek to amend it with a new expiration date very likely in January as well as a negotiated package of three full-year spending bills.
While Thune believed the plan would win the support of enough Democrats to advance, Democratic senators emerged from their own private lunch determined to seek out a better deal, and they are expected to block the House CR again absent additional progress in negotiations, according to two other people granted anonymity to describe the deliberations.
In any case, Senate GOP leaders are preparing to keep lawmakers in Washington to try and force a resolution to the record-breaking shutdown. Asked if the chamber will be in through the weekend, Majority Whip John Barrasso said “yes.”
Even if an agreement is reached in the coming days, finalizing the deal could take days due to procedural hurdles and objections from senators.
Asked if they were moving closer to an agreement, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) — who has helped lead the bipartisan talks — told reporters after the Democratic lunch she didn’t know. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “very good, productive meeting.”
Several Democrats said the talks during the lunch were focused on how to remain unified as the latest turn in the shutdown negotiations puts a spotlight on Democratic divisions, including by offering a counter-proposal to the GOP on the three full-year funding bills.
“We want to stay together and unified. And we had a really good conversation about how to do that,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told reporters after the lunch.