The Senate advanced the House GOP spending bill Friday with some help from across the aisle. At least eight Democrats joined Republicans in passing the continuing resolution, which will extend government funding until September 30. Those Senators included Dick Durbin (IL), Brian Schatz (HI), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), John Fetterman (PA), Gary Peters (MI), Angus King (an independent from Maine who typically caucuses with the Democrats), Maggie Hassan (NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY).
The upper chamber needed 60 votes to pass the measure, requiring the assistance of at least seven Democratic lawmakers to join the Republican effort. The looming alternative was a government shutdown that a coalition of Democrats believed could pressure Republicans to further negotiate down the bill. The shutdown would have begun as soon as Saturday morning, and would have reduced federal services, furloughed thousands of “non-essential” government workers, and potentially paused pay for thousands of “essential” federal employees until the budget was resolved.
Deep divides in the Democratic Party emerged Thursday and Friday as lawmakers debated whether or not to maintain adamant opposition against the House GOP’s continuing resolution. At a private lunch with the Democratic caucus, Gillibrand was heard screaming about the impacts of a government shutdown through the room’s “thick wood doors,” according to Fox News’s Aishah Hasnie.
How the caucus would vote still wasn’t clear by Friday late afternoon, when Schumer again implored Democrats to vote in favor of the Trump-endorsed budget, arguing that a shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk carte blanche to destroy vital government services even faster.
House Democrats voted nearly unanimously against the bill earlier this week. After Schumer’s remarks, top House Democrats issued a joint statement reiterating their opposition against the measure, pushing for a four-week spending bill and more time to negotiate the details of a continuing resolution.
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