Six GOP senators vote to end shutdown without wall funding

Six Republican senators crossed the aisle on Thursday to vote with Democrats and advance a stopgap measure that would end the partial government shutdown without additional funding for President TrumpDonald John TrumpBooker backpedals after comparing Warren's Facebook proposal to Trump Booker: 'Thoughts and prayers' after gun violence are 'bullshit' Mike Pence tells Liberty University graduates to prepare to be 'shunned,' 'ridiculed' for being a Christian MORE's proposed border wall.

GOP Sens. Lamar AlexanderAndrew (Lamar) Lamar AlexanderOvernight Health Care: Trump urges Congress to take action on surprise medical bills | New bipartisan drug pricing bill introduced | Trump gambles in push for drug import proposal Trump urges Congress to take action on surprise medical bills The Hill's Morning Report - Barr held in contempt after Trump invokes executive privilege, angering Dems MORE (Tenn.), Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsThe Hill's Morning Report — Trump escalates trade war with China as talks continue Maxine Waters, Stacey Abrams among political stars in demand for graduation speeches Overnight Health Care: Trump wants HHS to help Florida with drug imports | Graham calls inaction on drug prices 'unacceptable' | Abortion battles heat up with Kavanaugh on Supreme Court MORE (Maine), Cory GardnerCory Scott Gardner1 dead, several others injured in school shooting in Denver suburb The gap in Sen. Gardner's environmental record GOP distances itself from Trump's ObamaCare attacks MORE (Colo.), Johnny IsaksonJohn (Johnny) Hardy IsaksonTammy Duckworth visits Iraq for first time since being shot down in 2004 Congress punts on disaster aid amid standoff with Trump, Dems Overnight Defense: Transgender troops rally as ban nears | Trump may call more troops to border | National Guard expects 3M training shortfall from border deployment | Pentagon to find housing for 5,000 migrant children MORE (Ga.), Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiMoore's bid for Federal Reserve looks increasingly shaky Patricia Arquette pushes for Equal Rights Amendment at hearing Senate GOP women pose obstacle for Moore as Fed pick MORE (Alaska) and Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyOvernight Health Care: HHS issues rule requiring drug prices in TV ads | Grassley, Wyden working on plan to cap drug costs in Medicare | Warren to donate money from family behind opioid giant Dem senator calls on McConnell to endorse bipartisan bill to raise smoking age to 21 Young Turks' Uygur: Nancy Pelosi is not a progressive MORE (Utah) voted to advance the continuing resolution, which would have fully reopened the government and funded it through Feb. 8. 

The measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

The 52-44 vote in support of reopening the government without additional funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall is a major blow to Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump's 'four corners' offense an effective strategy for 2020 House Dems reintroduce bill to protect elections from cyberattacks The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump takes gamble on new China tariffs MORE (R-Ky.).

The Senate also rejected a Trump-backed proposal on Thursday that included $5.7 billion for a border wall. That 50-47 vote also fell short of the 60 needed to advance.

Roughly a quarter of the federal government has been closed since Dec. 22 amid an entrenched fight over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Approximately 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or forced to work without pay in the 34 days since the shutdown began. Those workers are poised to miss their second paycheck Friday.

The Democratic proposal would reopen the quarter of the government that has been shuttered and fund it through Feb. 8. It does not include additional funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall, as demanded by Trump.

Democrats were expected to pick up some GOP defectors on their proposal. Collins and Murkowski both indicated on Wednesday that they would support it, and Gardner's staff told The Denver Post that he would also support the short-term funding bill.

"I voted in favor of the President’s proposed compromise, which would have achieved both goals," Romney said in a statement following the vote. "When that measure failed, I also voted for an alternative proposal that would open the government and give the Democrats two weeks to put up or shut up — come to the table and agree to a final deal on border security and enforcement."

Isakson, speaking from the Senate floor after the votes, said it was time for the Senate to "do some business."

"All Democrats and Republicans pay close attention. I've been here 20 years. I've seen a lot of shutdowns, about five of them. I want to talk about what they produced. The first one under Bill ClintonWilliam (Bill) Jefferson ClintonThe Democrats need a long game Trump should send migrants to Guantanamo Obama Netflix deal could revolutionize the 'second act' in Washington MORE produced Monica Lewinsky, she was an intern in the White House and idle hands are never good," he said.

In a statement following the vote, Alexander said he voted twice to reopen the government, arguing that it was "wrong for either side" to use shutdowns "as a bargaining chip."

“I voted twice today to open the government because it should never have been shut down," he said. "It is always wrong for either side to use shutting down the government as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations — it should be as off-limits as chemical weapons are to warfare."

Alexander has previously backed the Senate taking up a continuing resolution to give lawmakers more time to work out a deal.

“We ought to take the president’s request, immediately consider it … add to it whatever we need to do to get a result, send it to him, sign it and in the meantime open the government up,” Alexander told WREC, a Tennessee radio station, earlier this month.

Alexander acknowledged that the idea of reopening the government for roughly three weeks wouldn’t gain traction without Trump’s support, adding, “I’m hoping the president changes his mind. This is the way you get a result.”

Updated at 4:55 p.m.