House of Representatives Democrats are on a mission Saturday morning: To get a vote on a no-strings-attached budget that would reopen the government. They're likely to fail.
One by one, they're getting up on the House floor, demanding a vote, and having that bid rejected by Republicans. They're railing against what they call the "tea party Republican shutdown."
Earlier in the day, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., explained the Democratic position:
"We're now in the 12th day of the government shutdown. We are just a few days from risking the creditworthiness of our country. It is time to open up this government and get government workers back to work serving the American people."
Hoyer and other Democrats are asking members of Congress to sign a "discharge petition" that would force a vote. It needs a majority of members of the House--but that means it needs 17 Republicans, which is unlikely.
Sign it, said Hoyer. "We have the opportunity to do it this morning."