Author：Wall Street CN

The United States is once again facing the risk of a federal government shutdown as a procedural vote in the Senate on Thursday failed to advance the government funding bill that had already been passed by the House of Representatives. By Friday, several federal government departments, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will run out of operating funds.

According to CCTV News, on Thursday, the 29th local time, the US Senate voted on a government funding bill, but it failed to pass due to insufficient votes in favor. This greatly increases the likelihood that the US federal government will partially shut down again at the end of this month due to running out of funds.

The vote showed that only 45 votes were in favor of the appropriations bill, while 55 votes were against. This was mainly due to seven Republican senators joining the Democrats in voting against it. According to Senate rules, a government appropriations bill requires 60 votes to pass.

Democrats are insisting on removing funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the bill, citing the shooting deaths of U.S. citizens earlier this month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents during enforcement actions in Minnesota. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that Democrats are prepared to pass five bipartisan funding bills, adding, "We are ready to fund 96% of the federal government today, but the DHS bill still has a lot of work to do."

The failure of the appropriations bill to pass a crucial Senate vote greatly increases the likelihood of a government shutdown this week, but it may also prompt senators from both parties to negotiate and find a solution. If the two parties fail to reach an agreement by midnight on Friday, June 30 (Eastern Time), several key federal government departments, including the Department of Defense, the Treasury Department, the State Department, and the Department of Labor, will face a funding disruption.

As expected, the government funding bill failed to pass Thursday's procedural vote. According to Senate rules, a government funding bill requires at least 60 votes to avoid obstruction of proceedings. Currently, Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, Democrats hold 45, and two independent senators have joined the Democratic caucus.

The bills that failed to advance this time included funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Treasury Department, the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Education.

The report states that seven conservative Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting against the bill, which is why it failed to pass.

In addition, Senate Majority Leader John Thune changed his vote to "no" so that he could reintroduce the bill for a vote later. Before the vote, he had stated that they were closer to avoiding a government shutdown, saying, "Let's hope we can reach an agreement."

According to CCTV News, Senate Democratic Leader Schumer previously stated that Democrats would block the inclusion of DHS funding in the government appropriations bill if it were passed in the Senate, given the recent shootings of U.S. citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers during forced immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

According to other reports, Democrats are trying to force the Trump administration to change Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies following the fatal encounter between Alex Pretti and federal agents in Minneapolis. Democrats are demanding that Republicans and the White House agree to separate Department of Homeland Security funding from the rest of the bill in order to renegotiate it.

Reports indicate that Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced in her Senate testimony Thursday morning that she would vote against the bill because the White House has not yet agreed to an agreement to separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security from the bill.

Murray stated, "We've reached an agreement on funding for childcare, cancer research, air traffic controllers, our military, and other areas, but we've also made it clear that we cannot and will not move forward with the Department of Homeland Security bill unless there's real progress on accountability."

The report states that although the procedural vote failed, there was still some optimism within the Senate on Thursday morning, with hopes that progress had been made by Schumer and the Trump team on Wednesday regarding the potential separation of the Department of Homeland Security bill and its future reform, potentially allowing the bill to move forward. A source familiar with the discussions said that while no agreement has been reached, discussions are ongoing and moving in the direction of the Democrats.

As of Thursday morning, leaders from both parties and the White House were reportedly close to reaching an agreement. The proposal being drafted would provide funding for other agencies included in the bill until the end of September, but only temporarily extend funding for the Department of Homeland Security, allowing all parties to continue negotiations.

Thune expressed hope ahead of the procedural vote, though he declined to say whether he would support certain proposals put forward by Democrats. He stated, "We're getting closer. Hopefully, it will happen. My hope and expectation is that if the White House and Senate Democrats can resolve this issue, they will be able to produce the number of votes needed to pass."

If the Senate fails to secure the approval of all 100 senators to separate the Department of Homeland Security funding bill from the rest of the bills, as Democrats are demanding, several key agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will face funding shortfalls.

The government shutdown will begin at 12:01 AM ET on January 31. Amendments to the bill, including the removal of funding for DHS, will require another vote in the House of Representatives, which is currently in recess.

The report points out that if an agreement is reached, the bill must be approved by both houses of Congress, which means that House members whose seats are close in both parties must return to Washington to vote, potentially delaying approval until next Monday.

Even if there is a partial government shutdown and DHS does not receive operating funds, Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to operate through funding from President Trump's domestic policy package passed last summer.

This would be the first time the Trump administration has faced the risk of a shutdown since October 1st of last year. Centrist Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who had repeatedly criticized his party's decision to enforce a 43-day government shutdown in the fall, also voted against it this time. Sources familiar with Fetterman's thinking told the media that his vote was based on the expectation that blocking the bill would pave the way for separating DHS funding measures from five other spending bills.