Senate Republicans are ramping up pressure on Democrats over the shutdown, taking away a vote on a Democratic alternative to open the government and blaming the party for worsening hardships for military families.

In a now familiar scene Tuesday night, the Senate rejected a House GOP measure to open the government by a 49-45 vote. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) were the only members of the Democratic caucus who voted to advance it. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who previously supported it, missed the vote.

No Democrats shifted from their previous position, but the vote was different in one key way.

Until this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has allowed Democrats to easily schedule votes on their competing funding proposal. But with the shutdown entering its third week, he’s deploying tougher tactics.

Thune, for the first time since the government shut down, scheduled only one vote to reopen the government, denying Democrats an opportunity to vote on their own government funding proposal, which to this point has provided political cover to swing-state members of their caucus.

He and other GOP leaders blasted Democrats on Tuesday for hurting military families after setting up the vote before the critical Oct. 15 payday for more than 1 million military service members, a critical constituency in both Republican and Democratic states.

Thune slammed Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for being more concerned about partisan politics than the welfare of military families.

“I guess Democrats are not going to be satisfied until military families and government workers are lining up at food........

© The Hill