The Senate voted 62 to 38 Friday evening to advance a GOP spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown set to occur Saturday at 12:01 a.m.
Nine Senate Democrats joined Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to vote “yes” on the cloture vote to advance the stopgap government funding bill that will fund government operations through the end of September. Schumer’s decision to join Republicans in preventing a government shutdown has been met with scathing criticism from the party’s left-wing base and dozens of congressional Democrats, including House Democratic leadership and even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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At least seven Democrats had to join Schumer to advance the GOP spending bill, given the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was the lone GOP lawmaker to oppose the bill.
Democrats’ public meltdown at Schumer for committing to advance the GOP spending bill reflects a party deeply divided over whether to give Republicans a “win” by voting for their government funding measure or letting the government shut down. High-profile members of the Senate Democratic conference, including Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the Democratic leadership, bucked Schumer to oppose the spending bill.
Senate Democrats were heard screaming while in a fierce debate with their colleagues over how to proceed on the House-passed CR Thursday, according to one report.
Some Democratic lawmakers are privately pushing New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary Schumer in 2026 following their criticism of his strategy in the government funding fight.
“It is almost unthinkable why Senate Democrats would vote to hand the few pieces of leverage that we have away for free when we’ve been sent here to protect Social Security, protect Medicaid, and protect Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN Thursday, despite the bill not touching any of these entitlement programs. The left-wing firebrand has declined to rule out a primary challenge against the Senate Democratic leader.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not answer a reporter’s question about whether it is “time for new leadership in the Senate” during his weekly press conference Friday.
The stopgap funding measure does include an additional $6 billion for veterans’ healthcare, modest increases for defense spending and Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding to patch an operating shortfall that started under the Biden administration and continues a $20 billion rescission request in IRS enforcement funding. The bill passed the House 217 to 213 Tuesday with just one Democratic lawmaker voting in favor.
Schumer faced widespread backlash from his colleagues and the party’s left-wing base following his decision to support the GOP spending bill.
”House Democrats will not be complicit,” House Democratic leadership wrote in a statement Thursday following Schumer’s decision to back the GOP spending bill. “We remain strongly opposed to the partisan spending bill under consideration in the Senate.”
“I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill,” Pelosi said in a statement posted to X. “America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People.”
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America.
Senate Republicans appeared confident their Democratic colleagues would face political backlash for dragging the country into a government shutdown, branding the potential lapse in government funding the “Schumer Shutdown.”
“The Democrats are going to have to pay the price of the shutdown because they’re inviting the shutdown,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters Thursday, prior to Schumer’s announcement. “They seem to be proudly owning the shutdown.”
Trump praised Schumer’s decision to back the stopgap government funding bill in a post on Truth Social Friday.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took ‘guts’ and courage!” Trump wrote. “The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming. We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning!”
A vote on final passage is slated to be held later on Friday. That vote only needs a majority of senators to vote “yes” to pass.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
