House Democrats are preparing to reject a measure to avoid a government shutdown expected to reach the House floor on Friday, potentially teeing up a high-stakes confrontation as Republicans dare them to own the fallout.
The impasse has set the stage for another volatile showdown ahead of the Sept. 30 government funding deadline, with federal workers and agencies bracing for a potential shutdown.
Republicans are pressing for a “clean” seven-week extension of federal funding that pushes the fight into late November. The party controls both the House and the Senate, but can’t get any spending bill through the upper chamber without the support of some Democrats. The House could vote on the GOP continuing resolution as early as Friday.
Democrats on Wednesday released an alternative that would extend funding only through Oct. 31 but tacks on a range of priorities: a permanent extension of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year; the reversal of Medicaid cuts enacted in the GOP’s Big, Beautiful Bill; and new guardrails to prevent the Trump Administration from freezing or rescinding money that Congress has approved. Their measure also restores nearly half a billion dollars to public broadcasting, lifts the freeze on foreign aid funding, and boosts congressional security funds in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The proposal amounts to a political manifesto as much as a governing plan. Few Democrats expect it to be enacted as written. But leaders argue that it signals their baseline demands for any negotiation—and highlights contrasts they believe will resonate with voters.
“We are confident when the American people contrast these two proposals they are going to side with us,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, told reporters Wednesday evening. “They are going to tell Republican congressmen and senators that they should start talking to the Democrats.”
So far, Republicans have not shown interest in doing so. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota dismissed the Democratic measure as an attempt to “take a hostage,” and framed the GOP stopgap measure as a way to give Congress time to work through a backlog of appropriations bills.
“What we’re talking about right now is giving the appropriators a chance to actually pass bills,” said Thune. “Where are we supposed to do big policy initiatives on a seven-week extension to fund the government?”
The standoff underscores a striking role reversal. Democrats, who for years branded themselves as responsible stewards during shutdown crises, are now positioning themselves as the side willing to risk disruption rather than accede to Republican terms. Leaders are acting under pressure from a restive base that wants to see them confront President Donald Trump more directly, after a group of centrist Democrats helped pass the previous government funding measure in March without any major concessions. Yet privately, some lawmakers acknowledge that their current strategy carries political hazards, particularly for swing-district members facing reelection in 2026.
That unease reflects broader divisions inside the Democratic ranks. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has already vowed to back the GOP plan, and a handful of others have yet to commit to opposing it. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader, met privately this week with vulnerable Democrats to gauge whether they can hold firm. Several signaled they were open to supporting a stopgap if Republicans conceded on issues like health care—concessions GOP leaders insist are off the table.
The Republican plan’s timing has added to Democratic frustrations. According to Politico, House leaders are considering leaving Washington immediately after a potential Friday vote and not returning until after the Oct. 1 deadline. That would leave the Senate forced to accept the House measure as the only viable option to avoid a shutdown. Senate Democrats have floated a procedural arrangement that would allow both measures—the Republican and Democratic stopgaps—to receive votes next week. But GOP senators are unlikely to have interest in such a deal, seeing no reason to give Democrats an opportunity to showcase their health care demands.
In addition to extending Obamacare subsidies, the Democratic counteroffer also seeks to rein in what lawmakers describe as the Trump Administration’s encroachment on Congress’s spending authority. Trump’s budget officials have repeatedly sought to freeze or withhold funds from programs they oppose, prompting calls for stronger oversight. The Democratic measure would create within the Office of Management and Budget an inspector general who would be tasked with ensuring compliance with federal laws. The legislation would also explicitly bar the executive branch from sidelining appropriations once they are signed into law.
Those provisions reflect an ongoing power struggle between the legislative and executive branches that has intensified during Trump’s second term. Democrats argue that preserving Congress’s control over federal spending is as important as the health care provisions that headline their bill. “We expect them to come and negotiate and to live up to what they told their voters back in ’24, not even a year ago, what they were going to do, which was lower costs. And health care is a huge part of that,” Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the Democratic whip, told reporters Wednesday.
Yet for all their talk, Democrats have been deliberately vague about what concessions might ultimately be enough to win their votes. Schumer, asked whether a mere commitment to negotiate after Sept. 30 would suffice, declined to rule it out. “We have two weeks,” he said. “They should sit down and talk to us and we maybe can get to a good proposal.”
That ambiguity suggests Democrats are still testing how far they are willing to go. In March, they ultimately backed a Republican stopgap rather than risk a shutdown. This time, party leaders insist they are on firmer political ground, pointing to public polling that consistently shows voters blaming Republicans more for past shutdowns. But as the deadline approaches, the pressure on Democrats to find an off-ramp is certain to intensify—particularly from members representing districts with large federal workforces.
“I’m not going to vote for a bad product without getting some assurances when it comes to my constituents,” Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, whose Northern Virginia district consists of many federal workers, tells TIME. “I’m not a cheap date.”
For now, the two sides are at an impasse, and neither appears eager to budge. Republicans are preparing to muscle their plan through the House and dare Democrats to block it in the Senate. Democrats are signaling they will do exactly that, even if it means forcing the government into a shutdown with no clear strategy for ending it.
In a Congress accustomed to last-minute deals, few are yet predicting with certainty how the drama will resolve. But with just days remaining before the government runs out of money, the path forward is narrowing—and the political costs of miscalculation are mounting.
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