A slow trickle of bills moved through the Senate this week as the federal government shutdown approaches its fourth week.
The Senate voted twice this week on the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, the budget bill that would provide funding for the federal government and, if passed, would end the shutdown.
Both votes — on Monday and Wednesday — were for cloture on a motion to proceed with the bill, which would end discussion and begin an actual vote on whether to pass it. Both votes required a three-fifths majority to pass and both votes therefore failed, 50-43 on Monday and 54-46 on Wednesday.
Hawai‘i senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono both voted against granting cloture, joining the majority of their Democratic party. Only one Democrat broke ranks for either vote — Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto — although seven senators across both parties did not vote on Monday.
Similarly, no progress was made on the Shutdown Fairness Act, a Republican-authored bill that would provide funding for federal agencies to pay employees who work during a shutdown. The bill would allow said employees to continue to be paid as the shutdown continues, as opposed to current law where those employees are only paid when the shutdown is over.
The Senate voted 54-45 to invoke cloture, which therefore failed. Hirono and Schatz voted against, although three Democrats voted in support.
Beyond those votes, the Senate also voted to pass five bills this week. All of them were uncontroversial and passed unanimously.
• The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to publish an annual list of FCC-licensed organizations that have “certain foreign ownership.” As defined by the bill, this would mean an organization with ownership ties to China, North Korea, Russia or Iran or that is controlled to any degree by those countries, as determined by an unspecified “appropriate national security agency.” The bill next goes before the House.
• The Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act, which requires the IRS to provide clear guidance when a person makes an error on their tax returns. If passed, the IRS would have to include in any notice of improper a description of the error and what line on which it was made, an itemized “computation of adjustments” required to correct it, a telephone number for the IRS’ automated transcript service and a deadline to make the correction. Having already passed the House in March — also uncontroversially, with a voice vote receiving more than the two-thirds necessary without any discussion — it now goes to the President’s desk.
• The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, which requires the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Academy of Public Administration — an independent Washington, D.C.-based research organization — to develop a report on what DOC offices are critical to the nation’s supply chains and make recommendations on how to improve their efficiency. Having passed the Senate, it now goes before the House.
• The Wetlands Conservation and Access Improvement Act, a short measure that delays when interest shall accrue on obligated funds within the federal Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account. Currently, interest begins in accrue in 2026, but under the bill that date is pushed back to 2033. The Senate’s vote sends it to the President’s desk, the House having voted to pass it in July.
• The Congressional Award Program Reauthorization Act, which extends the board that oversees the Congressional Award Program — an award recognizing “service, initiative and achievement in America’s youth” — through the end of the 2028 fiscal year. It also removes an existing requirement that medals awarded through the program be made of gold plate over bronze or rhodium over bronze. The bill now goes before the Senate.
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