Noon Senate vote to reopen the government in trouble

The Senate has scheduled a procedural vote to end the government shutdown for Noon Monday, but the prospects for passage are grim.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the vote saying, “In two hours, every senator can vote to end this government shutdown.” But the architect of the shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuch Schumer, said Sunday night that those involved with the negotiations “have yet to reach an agreement on a path forward.”

Monday’s vote should pull in a few Democrats and almost all Republicans but is expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to end Schumer’s resist-style tantrum.

The measure to be voted on is identical to the one Democrats refused on Friday except that it extends government funding until Feb. 8 instead of the 16th.

McConnell made an effort to assure Democrats that their key issue, amnesty for illegal aliens, would be taken up as long as the government remains open.

“So long as the government remains open, it would be my intention to take up legislation here in the Senate that would address DACA, border security and related issues,” McConnell said Monday morning

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Democrats say that they want stronger language from Leader McConnell promising action on amnesty for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. But it’s unclear what that language would need to be as Democrats have so far failed to produce any legislative text on DACA that could be debated or voted upon.