President Donald Trump on Saturday signed the high-stakes government funding bill approved by the Senate a day earlier, averting a partial government shutdown but leaving Democrats divided on their strategy to counter the administration.
Harrison Fields, the White House principal deputy press secretary, wrote in a post on X that Trump signed the continuing resolution. Fields thanked a range of congressional leaders, from House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
The bill — which funds the government through the end of September — trims non-defense spending by roughly $13 billion and increases defense spending by $6 billion.
On Friday, the GOP-controlled Senate voted 62-38 to advance the measure, with Schumer and nine other lawmakers who caucus with Democrats joining nearly every Republican.
The bill then passed the chamber in a final 54-46 vote. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine were the only members who caucus with Democrats to support the final measure, while GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone GOP opponent of the bill.
The bill’s passage has exposed a major rift among Democrats on Capitol Hill, as virtually every House Democrat — including many hailing from critical swing districts — opposed passage of the bill. House Republicans, led by Johnson, passed the funding bill in a narrow 217-213 vote.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York opposed the funding bill and on Friday called it “an attack on veterans, families, seniors and everyday Americans.”
Schumer, meanwhile, supported advancing the measure, drawing criticism from several progressive lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who called the senator’s push to assemble Democratic support for advancing the funding bill “a tremendous mistake.”
“This turns the federal government into a slush fund for Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a CNN interview that aired on Thursday. “It sacrifices congressional authority, and it is deeply partisan.”
However, Schumer argued that a shutdown would have allowed the Trump administration to exert more power over reducing the size of the federal government.
“A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” the veteran New York senator said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
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