US Senate hopes for government shutdown resolution early this week
Kyiv • UNN
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it's still unclear when the Senate will be able to vote on a final resolution to reopen the government. He hopes a decision will be made early this week.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it was "still unknown" when the Senate would be able to vote on the final approval of a resolution to reopen the government, though he hoped it would be passed early this week, UNN reports, citing the BBC.
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The Senate session has been adjourned until 11:00 local time on Monday (18:00 Kyiv time), and Thune made it clear that he would like to pass the resolution on Monday and immediately send it to the US House of Representatives for a vote.
"We had a good vote tonight (November 9 - ed.). Hopefully, we will be able to organize the next votes. And, of course, that will require cooperation and agreement," he said, referring to the fact that any senator from any party could delay procedural deadlines for several days if they wished.
He said that Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who voted against the resolution, wants to hold a vote on an amendment regarding hemp cultivation in his state. He added that he was not sure if this was possible.
Three conservative senators — Mike Lee, Rick Scott, and Ron Johnson — abstained from voting almost until the very end, continuing substantive conversations on the floor with Thune and other senior officials. Thune said they were discussing "the overall budget process here" and preventing government shutdowns.
Thune was asked how confident he was in the quick passage of the funding resolution.
"We'll see how motivated people are tomorrow (November 10 - ed.)," he said.