WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will wake up on Monday with the U.S. government still shut down and the Senate expected to try again to restore federal funding, if only temporarily, and work on resolving a dispute over immigration.
Amid uncertainty about whether federal employees should report to work in the morning, senators were set to vote at midday on a funding bill to get the lights back on in Washington and across the government until early February.
Support for the bill was uncertain, after Republicans and Democrats spent all day on Sunday trying to strike a deal, only to go home for the night short of an agreement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said late on Sunday that an overnight vote on a measure to fund government operations through Feb. 8 was canceled and would instead be held at 12 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Monday.
Up until Monday, most federal workers were not directly affected by the shutdown that began at midnight on Friday.
Many were still awaiting notification on whether they are “essential” employees or not, which would determine whether they must report to their offices.
Even late on Sunday, the federal Office of Personnel Management was providing little guidance. It said on its website that “federal government operations vary by agency.”
Anxiety for U.S. federal workers facing government shutdown furloughs
Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, where they have a slim 51-49 majority. But most legislation requires 60 Senate votes to pass, giving Democrats leverage in that chamber.
Trump earlier this month told a bipartisan Senate working group that he would sign whatever DACA legislation was brought to him. The Republican president then rejected a bipartisan measure and negotiations stalled.
McConnell had previously insisted that the Senate would not move to immigration legislation until it was clear what could earn Trump’s support.
Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who is involved in bipartisan immigration negotiations, said McConnell’s statements on Sunday indicated progress in negotiations and he urged his Democratic colleagues to approve another stopgap bill.
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