The Senate failed to advance a six-bill spending package Thursday, thrusting the federal government toward the brink of a partial shutdown as negotiations on the Homeland Security funding measure continue.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) held an initial procedural vote on the House-passed package even as Senate Democrats and the White House are engaged in discussions to separate the Homeland Security measure from the other five.
The vote to begin consideration of the package failed 45-55. Sixty affirmative votes were needed to proceed.
The fight over the Homeland Security bill — which funds a host of disaster mitigation and recovery programs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency — is likely to tank the entire fiscal 2026 spending package ahead of Friday’s funding deadline.
