Democrats who control the Senate were confident that they would defeat Republicans' efforts to delay "Obamacare" health reforms on Monday and send a "clean" bill to keep the federal government operating back to the House of Representatives.
As a midnight shutdown deadline loomed, senior Democratic aides said the Senate would take a simple majority vote shortly after 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) to strip two Republican amendments from the funding measure - one that would delay the healthcare reforms and another that would repeal a tax on medical devices that helps fund health insurance subsidies.
Democrats control the 100-seat Senate with 54 votes, including two independent senators.
Source: REUTERS
