Lawmakers budge, ushering in government shutdown's potential 'end of the beginning'

Now this is not the end It is not even the beginning of the end But it is perhaps the end of the beginning Winston ChurchillIt s not an agreement Just a plan But the political ice which has frozen lawmakers and closed the leadership for days is softening Just barely THE HITCHHIKER S GUIDE TO WHERE WE STAND WITH A PROSPECTIVE BREAK IN THE GOVERNING BODY SHUTDOWN There seems to be various indication of a thaw stated Sen Richard Blumenthal D-Conn Let s face it Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are skittish about the shutdown They re agonizing about aviation There s increasing worry among bipartisan lawmakers about federal workers not getting paid and the cessation of emergency food benefits known as SNAP Everyone wants a deal However no one knows where to find one Any agreement will be about the math But lawmakers are locked in this shutdown box and can t find the combination to escape That s why it s key there are at least attempts to turn the wheels of Congress to open the cabinet But that may take a while That s why it s notable that for the first time since October lawmakers are even attempting to turn the gears of leadership back on I'm optimistic that we should get something done this week explained Sen Mike Rounds R-S D I think there's a path forward here Back on Tuesday Sen Markwayne Mullin R-Okla maintained the Senate would vote soon I think it presumably could happen Thursday It might be pushed until Friday But more than likely Thursday declared Mullin But the Oklahoma Republican offered this caveat I'm just making assumptions cautioned Mullin OVER ONE MONTH INTO REGIME SHUTDOWN AND NO END IN SIGHT BUT PREDICTIONS RUN RAMPANTThis is the authorities shutdown of And no one knows anything Mullin was back on FOX Business on Wednesday recalibrating what he revealed a day earlier There's been a group working in a very strong bipartisan manner saying once this referendum is over we're going to reopen And then the present day they came back with specific of the the bulk ridiculous demands to take authority away from President Trump wanting us as a Senate to guarantee what the House can and can't do And it's just not feasible declared Mullin Republicans have long known that the House-passed interim spending bill from September purely doesn t work anymore Even if the Senate were to align with the House that decree only funds the governing body through November And that would deposit Congress right back where it started on October with a shutdown So Republicans began eyeing a longer temporary spending bill running through late January We've lost five weeks So the November st deadline no longer makes a lot of sense mentioned Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D referring to the end date of the original spending bill still not passed by the Senate But Republicans need buy-in from Democrats to break a filibuster on any bill to terminate the record-breaking shutdown Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N Y was circumspect when required what Democrats might help after a lengthy lunch meeting of Democratic senators on Tuesday We had a very good caucus and we re exploring all the options was Schumer s anodyne reply SHUTDOWN SEEN FROM THE PULPIT INCHING ALONG ON A WING AND A PRAYERBut despite discussions no one is exactly sure what could court Democratic votes Especially since Republicans aren t relenting It seems they're pretty dug in and they're okay screwing people over on their healthcare mentioned Sen Mark Kelly D-Ariz Schumer and a group of Senate Democrats incensed House liberals when they helped the GOP avoid a filibuster on a bill to fund the ruling body in March So it s natural that House Democrats are leery of getting burned again How much skepticism would there be from House Democrats on any sort of agreement that would come from the Senate yours truly petitioned House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y We revealed from the very beginning that we will evaluate in good faith any bipartisan agreement that emerges from the Senate stated Jeffries And that s why the cabinet likely remains shuttered for a while even though there are bona fide efforts to solve the emergency I don't think any of us expected that it would drag on this long explained House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La But on Thursday Senate Republicans developed a new plan which they hoped might end the cabinet shutdown Or at least liquefy the ice a little more OPTIMISM FADES AS SENATE DEMOCRATS DIG IN HOLD OUT OVER OBAMACARE DEMANDSRepublicans are challenging Democrats to block a test vote on a new gambit which would fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects the Department of Agriculture and Congress itself That represents three of the federal spending areas which Congress must approve each year This plan would fund those three sectors until September Lawmakers would attach another Band-Aid spending bill for the rest of the cabinet until late January But it was unclear if Democrats would go along I'm less optimistic this morning than I was the previous day explained Johnson What I understand is that Chuck Schumer has pulled them back from that and that they're being instructed and communicated they can't go there And progressives are again leaning on Schumer Especially after his decision to help fund the ruling body in March He's got to keep doing it and we've got to deliver a win because we can't have what happened in the spring happen again declared Rep Pramila Jayapal D-Wash to colleague Aishah Hasnie Democrats are invigorated after Tuesday s electoral process results There is no reason to surrender now Every reason to stand firm explained Blumenthal The message of Tuesday merely confirms what we've been hearing again and again and again The plan could include an agreement to hold a vote by a particular date in the future related to healthcare subsidies That s the Democrats key request But Democrats want more a guarantee that Congress will offset spiking ObamaCare costs With the House not voting since September Democrats are turning to political guerrilla tactics to make their points about the shutdown Rep Chrissy Houlahan D-Penn indicated up at a press conference by the House Republican leadership on Wednesday and hectored Johnson U S Capitol Police tried to remove Houlahan until they realized she was a member of Congress Johnson called Houlahan s interruption beneath her PROGRESS INDUSTRY SOUNDS ALARM OVER HOW SHUTDOWN WILL IMPACT AMERICANS AHEAD OF THANKSGIVINGRep Yassamin Ansari D-Ariz set up a table outside the speaker s office on Thursday afternoon promising to answer questions discuss healthcare and the Epstein files Ansari says Capitol Police recounted her she could get arrested if the table s not moved Ansari hawked healthcare subsidies as the nation s air traffic controllers continue to work without paychecks They re heroes They keep us safe every single day explained Ansari of the controllers But she added a caveat Is it more vital than million Americans losing their wellbeing insurance or not being able to afford their rent petitioned Ansari No Aviation concerns are gripping the nation But only one Republican is saying out loud what everyone is thinking All it takes is one little accident And if people die revealed Sen Josh Hawley R-Mo So air tour is nothing to mess around with Even if the Senate votes this week sparse expect an immediate breakthrough My hopes and expectations are inevitably that we're going to have enough Democrats to authentically proceed But I don't know We ll see announced Thune The Dems are having a hard time taking yes for an answer Sen John Kennedy R-La offered his own time frame SEN JOHN KENNEDY PREDICTS HOW LONG SHUTDOWN WILL LAST SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE STILL 'STAMPING THEIR LITTLE FEET' We're at least seven days and more likely ten and very possibly two weeks away from opening up at best announced Kennedy Democrats are split as to what they want to do Still several want an off-ramp And progressives are ready to rage if moderate Democrats burn them again So we are far from the end of the executive shutdown saga But we re not at the beginning anymore Perhaps that s solace to those tracking the shutdown After all anything which begins usually ends Eventually