The Democrats’ fight over their shutdown strategy is extending all the way to the upper echelons of the Senate.
The Friday vote to get the House GOP funding patch over a procedural hurdle divided Senate Democratic leadership, with 10 members of the full caucus helping break a filibuster.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stressed to reporters Thursday, after he announced his decision to help advance the bill, that he was letting each member come to their own decision — an indication that he wasn’t going to try to squeeze anyone to oppose or support the bill.
But it still marked a high-profile split within Schumer’s leadership team.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Dick Durbin of Illinois joined Schumer in helping advance the House Republican bill, just hours before the midnight shutdown deadline. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who chairs the Senate Democratic campaign arm, also voted to advance the bill.
The other members at the Senate leadership table — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Mark Warner of Virginia, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Cory Booker of New Jersey — voted against breaking a filibuster, alongside Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
The rest of the Senate Democratic Caucus opposed the procedural motion, too.
