Government shutdown likely after Schumer says Senate Dems will block GOP funding bill
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that most Democrats in the upper chamber will not support a House Republican-passed bill to fund the federal government through the end of September, all but ensuring a partial shutdown beginning at 11:59 p.m. Friday.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their [continuing resolution] without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,” Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean [CR through April 11] that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass.”
With Republicans holding a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and legislation needing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, at least seven Democrats would need to support the spending bill, which passed the House 217-213 Tuesday night.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has also opposed the measure, so the GOP will need eight Democratic defections if there is full attendance in the chamber.
Following Tuesday night’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the lower chamber of Congress would recess until March 24, leaving Schumer with the option of accepting the House bill and keeping the federal lights on over the objection of progressive activists, or rejecting it and putting the nation’s capital on course for the 11th partial government shutdown since 1980.
In a statement after the lower chamber passed the funding bill, Johnson said it was “decision time for Senate Democrats: Cast a vote to keep the government open or be responsible for shutting it down.”
“In a shameful display of coordinated political theater, Democrats are willing to run out the clock on funding the government in a failed attempt to block the America First agenda,” the House speaker said.
Before Schumer’s announcement, the only Senate Democrat to openly back the House GOP continuing resolution was Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), while Sens. Jon Ossof (D-Ga.), Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) had signaled openness to supporting the bill.
Liberal activists had pointed out that the current spending fight was the last big chance for Democrats to extract concessions from Republicans until this fall, when the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process begins.
“Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave,” far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) fretted Wednesday on X. “TODAY is the showdown.”
Before the Senate convened for Wednesday business, Democrats huddled during a caucus lunch to plot the next steps forward.
“At least for now, I don’t see the votes, based on my reading of the end of the meeting,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters afterward. “I don’t see the votes there right now for passing their House Republican CR.”
“I’ve gone back and forth on this thing three times because it is two horrible choices,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) admitted to reporters before the lunch.
“If you shut down the government, the president is the person who decides what is essential,” Hickenlooper explained. “He decides what part of the government stays open, so you are actually giving him even more power.”
On the other side of the argument, a senior Senate Democratic aide told The Post that some members “worry a shutdown leaves Elon Musk alone in the candy store,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts.
“It wouldn’t be your grandfather’s shutdown,” this source added, following Musk’s aggressive actions to reduce the federal workforce and trim billions of dollars in purportedly wasteful spending programs.
Many Democrats on Capitol Hill had privately hoped House Republicans would fail to pass their resolution Tuesday night and be left in a position to take the political fall.
“Every hour that passes only puts them on an island where it’s obvious they have no plan — and the headlines are, ‘Will Democrats shut down the government?’” said one senior Senate Republican aide.
Another GOP adviser contended that if the CR fails to clear the Senate by late Friday, “this will be a Dem-engineered shutdown.”
The CR that Republicans passed through the House largely keeps government funding levels steady, with a slight $6 billion boost to defense and a roughly $10 billion increase to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding.
To offset the costs, the CR cuts back on about $13 billion in non-defense discretionary spending.
Only one House Democrat — Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who holds one of the most fiercely competitive seats — voted in favor of the CR when it came up in the lower chamber.
“This CR is not perfect, but a shutdown would be worse,” Golden said in a statement. “Even a brief shutdown would introduce even more chaos and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it.”
Golden also rebuked his party for what he called false suggestions that the CR would cut funding for important social programs.
“There are no cuts to veterans care in the period covered by this bill, and we have six months to ensure funding continues into the next fiscal year,” Golden added. “To say this bill contains cuts is, at best, a misreading that creates unnecessary fear among veterans.
“At worst, it’s the adoption of the same cynical GOP political tactics that Democrats have rightfully denounced — using misdirection to justify a vote.”
Tuesday was the first time House Republicans had passed a CR without leaning on Democratic support since they retook the lower chamber in 2023.
The next potential pressure point for Democrats is the debt ceiling, which is projected to become an issue in June.
However, Republicans are tentatively planning to neutralize that threat by stuffing a debt ceiling increase into President Trump’s agenda package, which is crafted in a way to bypass a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.
