(Dec. 11) The Senate is working through a tumultuous session Friday as lawmakers race to complete critical legislation and avert a federal government shutdown at midnight. The chamber will vote at 12:30 p.m. on the giant annual defense-policy bill, after GOP Senator Rand Paul stepped back from objections he had related to a provision on drawing down troops in Afghanistan. Clearing this important legislation could open up the Senate floor for a vote on the one-week spending bill needed by Friday night to fund the government. Voting on this crucial stopgap measure requires unanimous consent to proceed Friday, and it still faces some hurdles. Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and conservative Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri want a vote on an amendment granting most Americans a $1,200 stimulus payment. Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, is also blocking the vote, seeking a vote on a bill to withhold lawmaker pay for failure to pass a budget. And Republican senators Ron Johnson, Mike Braun and James Lankford are also threatening to hold up the bill to force a vote on a measure to prevent future shutdowns by extending funding automatically whenever a spending bill expires. Legislative hostage taking ahead of a government-shutdown deadline has become routine in the Senate, and a resolution Friday is still likely. However, the struggle to perform Congress’s most basic function doesn’t bode well for more ambitious legislation, such as the more than $900 billion under discussion for a Covid-19 relief package. --- Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake