Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reversed his stance dramatically today, announcing that he would cast his vote in favor of allowing Republicans to move forward with their plan to prevent a partial government shutdown set to take place at midnight on Friday.
Schumer (D-NY) explained that blocking the Republican proposal would ultimately grant President Trump too much power, a risk that outweighed the consequences of passing the temporary GOP spending resolution.
“While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Schumer stated in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday evening. “Allowing [President] Trump to take even much more power is a far worse option.” He went on to say, “Under a shutdown, Trump and Elon Musk would have carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now. I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people, therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.”
Republicans hold a majority of 53 votes in the Senate. To overcome the 60-vote requirement, they are likely to need the support of eight Democrats due to Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opposing the GOP measure to prevent the shutdown.
Schumer’s decision aligned him with Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.), one of the few Democrats publicly indicating their support for the Republicans in overcoming the filibuster.
In a passionate Senate Democratic meeting prior to Schumer’s public declaration, reports revealed that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was overheard “screaming,” seemingly arguing that a shutdown would result in far more severe damage than the Republican continuing resolution (CR) or short-term spending patch meant to avert the shutdown.
Just a day before, Schumer had harshly criticized the Republican plan, calling it divisive and urging Republicans to consider an alternative 28-day funding extension. He had also warned that the GOP lacked sufficient Democratic votes to push the bill through. However, during a private meeting with Senate Democrats, Schumer shared his change of heart on the issue.
“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 said during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. He stopped short of explicitly stating that he would vote against the Republican proposal, but made it clear that “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 [CR through April 11] that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass.”
The House Republicans had passed a continuing resolution on Tuesday that would keep the government funded through the end of September, including only minimal changes to the government funding levels. After passing the spending measure along party lines, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) recessed the lower chamber until March 24 and ruled out returning early.
The small changes included in the Republicans’ CR included a $10 billion increase in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a $6 billion rise in defense spending. To balance the budget, the CR also reduced non-defense discretionary spending by about $13 billion.
President Trump and Republicans wasted no time criticizing Senate Democrats for signaling their opposition to the CR.
“If there’s a shutdown, it’s only because of the Democrats — and they would really be taking away a lot from our country and from the people of our country,” Trump said Thursday.
“The House has done its job and passed a clean CR to fund the federal government,” Johnson added in a statement Thursday. “If Senate Democrats block an up-or-down vote, then it’s crystal clear: they are responsible for the ensuing government shutdown. Period.”
Inside the Senate, Democrats have been wrestling with how to handle the government shutdown situation. Many Democrats view this as the final major chance to negotiate concessions from Republicans on issues like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, there are also concerns that a shutdown would have severe consequences and could embolden DOGE to become even more aggressive, potentially placing the blame on Democrats.
“Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have full authority to deem whole agencies, programs, and personnel nonessential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired,” Schumer warned Thursday. “The decision on what is essential would be solely left to the executive branch with nobody left at the agencies to check them.”
Interestingly, many of the Democrats advocating for a tough approach to the shutdown are the same ones who previously attempted to curtail the filibuster.
Back in 2022, Schumer pushed for a measure to replace the traditional filibuster with a “talking filibuster” for two key voting rights bills. This was viewed as an attempt to weaken the filibuster, although Schumer stopped short of supporting the complete elimination of the practice.
In the end, every Democrat except former Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voted in favor of the move to a talking filibuster, where the Senate would consider legislation once the minority party ceases debate.
Now, 38 of those Senate Democrats remain, benefitting from the filibuster, one of the few tools still available to the minority party.
Outside the Senate, Democratic members of the House are urging their Senate counterparts to hold firm against the Republicans in the shutdown battle, including those who had once called for the filibuster’s elimination.
“It should be very clear to every Senate Democrat that any vote for Cloture will also be considered a vote for the bill,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wrote on X, urging her followers to pressure Democratic senators to oppose the CR.
In another post, she added, “Republicans run the House, the Senate, and the White House. You run the government. If you have the votes, then go ahead.”
Four years ago, Ocasio-Cortez had mocked moderate Democrats like Sinema (who later became an Independent) for supporting the filibuster.
“The filibuster wasn’t made w/ purpose. It’s the result of an accident in rulebook revision & bloomed as a cherished tool of segregationists. Now it empowers minority rule. That’s not ‘special,’ it’s unjust,” she criticized in 2021.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the CR bill Friday, which could determine whether the government avoids a shutdown.
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