WASHINGTON — The Senate finds itself on Friday in a familiar position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours to spare as Democrats confront two painful options: allowing passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions or voting no and letting a funding lapse ensue.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration about the options before them, but late Thursday made clear he will not allow a government shutdown. His move gives Democrats room to side with Republicans and allow the continuing resolution, often described as a CR, to come up for a vote as soon as Friday.
A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with Republicans to move the funding package forward.
“While the CR still is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Schumer said.
Congress has been unable to pass the annual appropriations bills designed to fund the government, so they’ve resorted to passing short-term extensions instead. The legislation before the Senate marks the third such continuing resolution for the current fiscal year, now nearly half over.
The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of September. It would trim non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion.
The Republican-led House passed the spending bill on Tuesday and then adjourned. The move left senators with a decision to either take it or leave it. And while Democrats have been pushing for a vote on a fourth short-term extension, GOP leadership made clear that option was a non-starter.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and others used their floor time Thursday to make the case that any blame for a shutdown would fall squarely on Democrats.
“Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if they’re going to shut down the government,” Thune said when opening the chamber.
Progressive groups urged Democratic lawmakers to insist on the 30-day extension and oppose the spending bill, saying “business as usual must not continue” while Trump and ally Elon Musk dismantle critical agencies and programs.
But Schumer said Trump would seize more power during a shutdown, because it would give the administration the ability to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired.
“A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and the country,” Schumer said.
Democrats have been critical of the funding levels in the bill. They note that both defense and non-defense spending is lower than what was agreed to nearly two years ago when Congress passed legislation lifting the debt ceiling in return for spending restraints.
But they are even more worried about the discretion the bill gives the Trump administration on spending decisions. Many Democrats are referring to the measure as a “blank check” for Trump.
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the continuing resolution passed by the House. So the administration will have more leeway to decide where the money goes.
For example, a Democratic memo said the bill would allow the administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and instead use it on mass deportation initiatives. At the Army Corps of Engineers, funding levels for more than 1,000 projects to enhance commerce, flood control and healthy ecosystems would be determined by the administration rather than Congress.
Democrats also object to the treatment of the District of Columbia, as the bill effectively repeals its current year budget and forces it to go back to the prior year’s levels, even though the district raises most of its own money. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the district would have to cut spending by $1.1 billion over just a few months.
Democrats also object to clawing back $20 billion in special IRS funding, on top of the $20 billion rescission approved the year before. The changes essentially cut in half the funding boost that Congress intended to give the agency through legislation passed by Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The spending bill before the Senate is separate from the GOP effort to extend tax cuts for individuals passed in Trump’s first term and to pay for those with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
That second package will be developed in the months ahead, but it was clearly part of the political calculus Democrats were considering as they argued against the six-month extension. Both efforts are designed to help the well-off at the expense of other Americans, they said.
“You’re looking at a one-two punch, a very bad CR, then a reconciliation bill coming down, which will be the final kick in the teeth for the American people,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Democratic arguments were hypocritical because they were essentially calling for shutting down the government to protect the government.
“Democrats are fighting to withhold the paychecks of air traffic controllers, our troops, federal custodial staff,” Cotton said. “They can’t be serious.”