US congress averted a government shutdown on Friday just hours before the funding deadline, after the Senate approved a House-passed spending bill that exposed deep rifts within the Democratic Party, reports CNN.
The stopgap measure to fund the government into the fall now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
Senate Democrats came under intense pressure to oppose the Trump-backed bill, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and others are now facing backlash after they helped to clear a path for its passage.
The rising tensions within the party spilled into public view as lawmakers raced toward a shutdown that would have had far-reaching consequences across the federal government – highlighting the struggle Democrats face in attempting to counter Trump and the Republican monopoly on power in Washington.
Some 90 minutes before Senate Republicans staved off a shutdown on a nearly party-line vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nine others crossed the aisle to advance it in a key procedural vote – despite intensifying pressure from their caucus to sink it outright.
The legislation, however, only required a simple majority in the chamber for final passage, and all but two in the group ultimately opposed it.
Schumer argued his party had only bad options when it came to shutting down the government – possibly for months – to challenge Trump, or accepting a GOP bill that Democrats have warned would cut spending to programs like veterans’ health care or Washington, DC, firefighters and police.
“I believe it is the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people,” Schumer argued in defense of his decision to clear a pathway for the bill’s passage.
“Clearly, this is a Hobson’s choice. The CR is a bad bill, but as bad as the CR is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” he continued.
Trump praised Schumer for announcing he would support the measure, telling reporters after the vote Friday: “I appreciate Senator Schumer, and I think he did the right thing, really. I’m very impressed by that.”
Outside of Schumer’s leadership team, many Senate Democrats as well as House Democrats seethed at the Democrat’s move, which they saw as a capitulation in the party’s first real leverage point in Trump’s second term.
The initial vote, while procedural, had been closely watched by Democrats across the country, who saw it as a test of their party leaders’ willingness to fight Trump.
Ultimately, the Senate voted 54-46 to approve the stopgap bill to fund the government through September 30. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the party, voted in favor of the bill and just one Republican – Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – opposed it.
“Once I had voted for cloture, it was an opportunity to pass the bill, and I thought it was more honest to vote for it,” Shaheen told CNN, adding: “I thought, much as I didn’t like the CR, I thought a government shutdown would be worse and would give Trump and Elon Musk and the DOGE operation more of an opportunity to fire people, to shut down agencies and to close the work of the government.”
After voting to pass the stopgap bill, the Senate approved a separate measure to allow Washington, DC, to maintain control over its funds after Democrats warned the Republican funding package would cut $1.1 billion of the city’s funding. The measure would next need to be passed by the House, where its fate is unclear.
At the urging of prominent Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, voters had been flooding senators’ offices with calls urging them to block the bill and take on Trump for his dismantling of the federal government. Ultimately, many Democrats believe, Schumer failed that test.
The New York Democrat’s strategy has faced fierce blowback from all corners of the Democratic Party, including in his own chamber, though no senators have publicly said they would challenge his leadership over the move.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
