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How did other Republican senators vote on the 2025 CR?
Executive Summary
The key finding: the Senate’s procedural vote to advance the 2025 continuing resolution (CR) passed 60–40, with nearly all Republican senators supporting the motion and Sen. Rand Paul (R‑KY) the lone GOP “no” vote, while eight Democrats/Independents joined Republicans to reach the 60‑vote threshold [1] [2]. Reporting across multiple outlets and trackers concurs that Republican unity—except for Rand Paul—was decisive in moving the CR forward on September 30, 2025 [3] [1]. This analysis extracts those core claims, compares the available reports, and flags where sources converge or omit detail.
1. How the headline claim lines up with the roll-call: Republicans largely united, one dissenter
Contemporaneous reporting frames the pivotal procedural tally as 60 senators voting to advance the House‑passed CR and 40 opposing that motion. Multiple analyses state that all Republican senators except Rand Paul voted to advance the CR, producing the GOP backbone for the 60‑vote majority [1] [2]. Sources describe the lone GOP “no” as an intentional, high‑profile dissent rather than a wider fracture in Republican ranks; coverage identifies Sen. Rand Paul (R‑KY) as the sole Republican opposing the measure while the remaining Republican conference supported the motion [3] [4]. The reporting therefore supports the claim that Republican senators overwhelmingly backed the procedural move to reopen the government, with only one conservative holdout recorded in the roll‑call narratives [1].
2. Who joined Republicans and why the 60 votes mattered
News analyses note that eight Democrats or independents crossed to support the procedural motion, which, combined with the Republican votes, provided the supermajority necessary under Senate procedure to overcome filibuster hurdles and advance the CR [5] [2]. Sources explicitly list examples of Democrats who voted “yes” — including Senators Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, and Tim Kaine among others — reflecting a split within the Democratic caucus about how to end the shutdown [5]. The 60‑vote threshold is central: reporting stresses that securing 60 votes is the practical barrier to proceeding to final passage, so the GOP’s near‑unanimous backing, plus defections among Democrats, turned out to be decisive in moving the measure forward [1].
3. Republican messaging and the lone dissent: unity with a caveat
Coverage emphasizes that Senate Republican leadership framed the vote as a pragmatic step to reopen government, while simultaneously pressing negotiating points on issues like tax credits and appropriations—positions articulated publicly by Senate leaders and the Republican conference [6]. The lone GOP “no,” Sen. Rand Paul, was portrayed consistently across reports as a principled veto tied to fiscal or policy objections rather than intra‑party power struggles, making his dissent symbolic rather than structurally destabilizing for GOP control of the process [4] [3]. Reporters note that party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, presented a unified “yes” posture that prioritized reopening over extended bargaining at that procedural moment [6].
4. Democratic division: not all opposition came from Republicans
Reports point to a fractured Democratic response, with several Democrats voting against advancing the CR even as a group of eight Democrats supported it to break the filibuster. Coverage highlights that prominent Democrats — including Gary Peters, Elissa Slotkin, and Jon Ossoff — voted “no,” signaling ideological or strategic splits about reopening terms and protections for policy priorities such as Affordable Care Act tax credits [5] [6]. The reporting thus contextualizes the GOP unity: Republicans supplied the bulk of votes to advance the CR, but Democratic votes were decisive in reaching 60; the split within the Democratic caucus is treated as a significant political dynamic shaping the outcome and subsequent negotiations [5].
5. Cross‑source comparison and where accounts converge or diverge
Across the cited analyses, there is consistent agreement on the central numeric facts: a 60–40 procedural vote, near‑unanimous Republican support with Sen. Rand Paul the sole GOP dissenter, and eight Democrats joining Republicans [1] [2] [3]. Differences among sources are mainly in emphasis and detail: some pieces foreground Republican leadership strategy and messaging [6], others catalog which Democrats defected or supported the motion [5]. A Guardian tracker page was referenced but inaccessible in one analysis; however, multiple independent reports (Axios, New York Times summaries cited in the analyses) corroborate the vote pattern, lending high confidence to the core claim while noting that granular roll‑call listings vary by outlet in how many names they highlight [3] [1] [2].