Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made it clear on Wednesday that Democrats will not back a spending bill approved by House Republicans, making it almost certain that parts of the federal government will cease operations when funding expires at 11:59 p.m. on 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 stated while speaking on the Senate floor.
Due to this, Senate Republicans lack the necessary support to move forward with their proposal. “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 April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass,” Schumer emphasized.
Since Republicans control the Senate with a 53-47 majority, and legislation requires 60 votes to clear a filibuster, at least seven Democratic senators would need to break ranks and back the House-passed funding measure, which was narrowly approved on Tuesday night with a 217-213 vote.
Shortly after the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that the House of Representatives would adjourn until March 24, effectively leaving Schumer with two options: either accept the House bill and keep the government running or refuse to pass it, paving the way for a government shutdown.
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