WASHINGTON – As the clock ticked on Sept. 30 to apartial government shutdown, several Senate Democratsbroke ranks with their partyto vote for a Republican-backed funding measure that would have kept the lights on. Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada threw their support behind a GOP bill to keep the government open until Nov. 21. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted for it. "President Trumpand Congressional Republicans are already hurting Nevadans who are dealing with high costs, an economic slowdown, and a looming health care crisis," Cortez Masto said in a statement after the vote. "That's why I cannot support a costly shutdown that would hurt Nevada families and hand even more power to this reckless administration." Still, thefunding extension failed to passon a 55-45 vote, with every other Democrat and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, opposing it. Republicans have a narrow majority in the Senate and would need more than half a dozen Democrats to join them to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Earlier in the evening, a separate budget bill from Democrats also failed on a party-line vote, 47-53. That measure would have reversed cuts to Medicaid and public media, extended health insurance subsidies and created safeguards to prevent the White House from withholding funding appropriated by Congress. Read more:These people have found their health care at the center of a shutdown showdown The relatively small number of defections came hours before the federal government was slated to plunge into a shutdown and underscored the general unity within the Democratic party to stand up to the Trump administration in a fraught political moment. But it also emphasizedhints of fear among some Democrats about the consequences a shutdown could reap for Americans, particularly for federal workers. The White House has threatenedwidespread civil service layoffs, on top of furloughs, in the event of a shutdown. Government agencies are already on track to lose roughly 300,000 employees this year due to firings, buyouts, retirements and other departures. Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:See which Democrats broke ranks to fund the government
