WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate finds itself on Friday in a familiar position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours to spare as Democrats confront two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or voting no and letting a funding lapse ensue.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration about the options before them, but abruptly switched course and made clear on the eve of voting that he will not allow a government shutdown. His move outraged many in the party who want to fight the Trump agenda, but gives senators room to side with Republicans and allow the continuing resolution, often described as a CR, to advance.
In a rare move, the House Democratic leadership, which essentially held the line against the bill in their chamber, issued a scathing rejoinder, warning against caving to Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and the Republican agenda marching forward in Congress.
“House Democrats will not be complicit,” wrote House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar in a joint statement from the party’s annual issues conference retreat, where frustrations were boiling over.
“We remain strongly opposed to the partisan spending bill under consideration in the Senate.”
But early Friday, Schumer picked up one unexpected nod of support — from Trump himself, who just a day earlier was gearing up to blame Democrats for any shutdown.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took “guts” and courage!” the president posted on his social media account.
A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority but have some dissent in their ranks, to move the funding package forward.
Schumer has acknowledged the difficult choice he faced, but insisted Democrats would not allow a government shutdown and warned of the havoc Trump and Musk could bring if federal offices shuttered.
“A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said, referring to the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
Congress has been unable to pass the annual appropriations bills designed to fund the government, so they’ve resorted to passing short-term extensions instead. The legislation before the Senate marks the third such continuing resolution for the current fiscal year, now nearly half over.
The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of September. It would trim non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion.
The Republican-led House passed the spending bill on Tuesday and then adjourned. The move left senators with a decision to either take it or leave it. And while Democrats have been pushing for a vote on a fourth short-term extension, GOP leadership made clear that option was a non-starter.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and others made the case that any blame for a shutdown would fall squarely on Democrats.
“Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if they’re going to shut down the government,” Thune said.
Progressive groups urged Democratic lawmakers to insist on the 30-day extension and oppose the spending bill, saying business as usual must not continue.
“There’s still time,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico at a House Democratic retreat in Leesburg, Va. “So, any of my colleagues in the Senate who are considering voting on cloture, the American people are shouting: Please do not hand the keys over to Elon Musk.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat often mentioned as a possible challenger to Schumer, said many House Democrats stood up to vote against the package only to “see some Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk.”
But Schumer said Trump would seize more power during a shutdown, because it would give the administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.
Democrats have been critical of the funding levels in the bill. But they are more worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. Many Democrats are referring to the measure as a “blank check” for Trump.
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the continuing resolution passed by the House. So the administration will have more leeway to decide where the money goes.
For example, a Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives.
Democrats also object to the treatment of the District of Columbia, as the bill effectively repeals its current year budget and forces it to go back to the prior year’s levels, even though the district raises most of its own money. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the district would have to cut spending by $1.1 billion over just a few months.
Democrats also object to clawing back $20 billion in special IRS funding, on top of the $20 billion rescission approved the year before through legislation passed by Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The spending bill before the Senate is separate from the GOP effort to extend tax cuts for individuals passed in Trump’s first term and to partially pay for them with spending cuts elsewhere in government.
That second package will be developed in the months ahead, but it was clearly part of the political calculus.
“You’re looking at a one-two punch, a very bad CR, then a reconciliation bill coming down, which will be the final kick in the teeth for the American people,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Democratic arguments for voting against the bill were hypocritical because they were essentially calling for shutting down the government to protect the government.
“Democrats are fighting to withhold the paychecks of air traffic controllers, our troops, federal custodial staff,” Cotton said. “They can’t be serious.”
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Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this story from Leesburg, Va.
