THIRD TIME'S NOT THE CHARM: McConnell Again Tries To Ignore Shutdown, Sinema 1 of 3 Dems Sticking With Him

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to ignore the government shutdown again tonight, forcing Senators to again vote on closing debate on S.1 - a measure that weaves together various Mideast-related measures. Each of the three times, he has fallen farther short of the 60 votes needed to move to a vote; each of the three times, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has been one of the handful of Democrats to vote with the GOP.

Tonight, the cloture motion failed, 50-43 and Sinema was joined by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Doug Jones (D-AL). (Menendez switched his vote to "nay.") The first two votes last week - and the text of the bill - are here.

Besides bucking a Democratic call to not proceed with other legislative business until McConnell allows a new vote on measures to fund the government (without funding President Trumps border wall), Sinema has angered some supporters because S.1 includes an anti-BDS measure that Palestinian supporters and the ACLU oppose. Sinema told Arizona's Politics last week that "I support these bills, and I believe most Arizonans do, too."


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