“The Democrats are insisting upon Flint, and we've got members who are interested in some assistance for flooding in Louisiana,” Sen. John Thune said. | Getty Senate advances budget deal that doesn't exist yet

Mitch McConnell summoned his Republican Conference to a late afternoon meeting on Tuesday with an unusual ask: Would his colleagues support moving forward on a spending deal that doesn’t even exist yet?

The answer, surprisingly, was yes.


The Senate voted 89-7 on Tuesday evening to move forward on a bill that eventually will be used to fund the government through Dec. 9 and deliver $1.1 billion to fight the Zika epidemic. A bloc of conservatives voted no, but the measure easily cleared the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, powered by votes from Senate Democrats, centrist Republicans and GOP senators up for reelection.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do around here,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who voted “no” because of concerns over the unorthodox process.

Yet enough Republicans supported McConnell on the matter because there are still several opportunities to block the bill later if senators believe they are getting a raw deal in the end, senators said. The majority leader offered a brief update on the state of play to his conference, but the main reason for the meeting was to make sure there was enough support to begin a process that eventually will allow Senate Republicans to go home and campaign for reelection more quickly.

“There are negotiations that are ongoing, and this bill in my view just sets the stage for an agreement that we hope occurs sooner rather than later,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

Campaign finance, trucking safety and the Internet domain system are among the grab bag of issues keeping the Senate from a final deal to stave off a government shutdown at the end of this month. But the biggest hurdle, Zika, has been resolved without including any language that would block Planned Parenthood’s partner clinic in Puerto Rico from accessing the federal grants — a key demand from Democrats.

“We want a clean CR, a clean Zika bill, period,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Senate Democrat. “We’ll save the debate on the riders for the lame-duck session.”

McConnell told reporters the parties were “close” to finalizing an agreement Tuesday afternoon, but he said he he would want senators to have some time to consider it before moving forward. And senior Republicans said the Senate was certain to stay in session next week, ensuring that the annual slog over must-pass government spending would — as in previous years — go down to the wire.

Democrats pin the blame for the delay on the GOP. “We should have no vexatious, poison-pill riders,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. “We are not going to have a CR loaded with riders. One is too many, and that’s what they’re trying to do.”

The Nevada Democrat took particular umbrage at the prospect of continuing a prohibition on the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring public companies to disclose political spending. That provision was included in last year’s omnibus spending bill, but Reid said he will fight to strip it out.

“We’re not going to have this bill [be] a pincushion for McConnell’s desire to have nothing, nothing reported dealing with campaign spending,” Reid said.

Lawmakers also are clashing over the Obama administration’s plan to relinquish the U.S. government’s authority over the Internet domain system to an international body on Oct. 1. Republicans led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune of South Dakota are pushing to continue a prohibition on the handover, which is sharply opposed by the administration.

“It’s just trying to figure out how to structure it, how to do it, how to make it effective,” Thune said of the Internet domain issue, known as ICANN. “I think in some form, I think that issue has to be addressed.”

Republicans said both the SEC language and the Internet battle were still under consideration as of late Tuesday. Cruz voted “no” on moving forward.

A GOP-backed push to block Transportation Department rules regarding how long truckers must rest between drives is among other final issues to be determined. As of late Tuesday afternoon, however, it appeared as though the trucking issue was close to being resolved, according to one source familiar with the negotiations.

Congressional negotiators also were continuing to discuss offsets for Zika funding. And it looked increasingly likely that the continuing resolution will not include money to address the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, or to respond to the devastating flooding in Louisiana.

“The Democrats are insisting upon Flint, and we’ve got members who are interested in some assistance for flooding in Louisiana,” Thune said. “Maybe it ends up that neither gets addressed — I don’t know.”

Thune also suggested that an administration effort to restore the Export-Import Bank’s full financing authority was falling short. “I know that the Dems are very intent on changing that quorum threshold, but even if we could pass it through the Senate — and I don’t know we can — that makes a very heavy lift in the House.”

Jennifer Scholtes and Adam Behsudi contributed to this report.