Hours before Trump was scheduled to give his speech, the Senate failed to advance a procedural motion to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
By a vote of 50-45, senators for the second time failed to advance House-passed legislation to fund and fully reopen DHS. The first vote, on Feb. 12, failed 52-47. It’s now 11 days into the partial government shutdown.
Security fencing surrounds the U.S. Capitol ahead of the State of the Union address, in Washington, February 24, 2026.
Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
A group of five bipartisan senators: Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; Maggie Hassan, D-NH; Rand Paul, R-Ky; Thom Tillis, R-NC; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, did not vote on Tuesday.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., voted with Republicans for the appropriations bill. Majority Leader John Thune voted no in order to procedurally make the piece of legislation up for reconsideration.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray