House

House Democrats march to Senate for shutdown votes

by Scott Wong 01/24/19 03:03 PM ET

About 20 House Democrats on Thursday marched across the Capitol onto the Senate floor to urge senators to vote to reopen the government.

{mosads}The visit came as the Senate began voting on two dueling bills aimed at ending the 34-day shutdown, neither of which were expected to pass.

House Democrats huddled in the back of the Senate chamber and were visited by senators including Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

“The more dramatic things you can do, the more pressure it puts on them to realize these are not ordinary times,” Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told The Hill.

The march was led by House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.).

Others who joined included Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), as well as freshmen Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) and Katie Hill (D-Calif.).

Updated at 3:21 p.m.