Senate to vote at noon on whether to end government shutdown

CNN: Washington (CNN)The Senate is scheduled to have a key vote at noon Monday on a bill to reopen the government and fund it for three weeks, though it's unclear if this plan will win over enough Democrats to pass. The vote will come several hours after the workday for hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees was supposed to have begun, and comes three days after the government officially shut down Friday at midnight. Many of the shutdown's full effects were less visible during the weekend, when much of the federal workforce would typically be off anyway. The vote was moved from 1 a.m. ET Monday to noon after it became clear Democrats would block the spending bill over disagreements on a variety of issues, most notably what do about young people affected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said he thought Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York agreed to push back the vote to give his caucus "a chance to chew" on a GOP proposal to break the impasse. But a top Democratic leadership aide disputed Cornyn's assertion and said unless Republicans make significant changes to their offer, Democrats will likely reject it when the vote comes. The Democratic aide did say, however, that progress was made in the lengthy negotiations that took place late Sunday night. But more talks are needed. GOP Sen.

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