Senate Democrats insist on voting on 30-day government funding bill
Senate Democrats say they will not vote for the House-passed six-month government funding package, which would boost defense spending and cut nondefense programs, unless they first get a vote on a 30-day funding stopgap to give bipartisan negotiators more time to reach a deal on the annual appropriations bills.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) announced on the floor that Democratic senators would not vote to advance the House bill — at least not now — and called for the Senate to instead pass a 30-day “clean” government funding stopgap.
“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR [continuing resolution],” he said.
“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. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday,” Schumer added.
But there’s no indication Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is ready to let Democrats vote for a 30-day government funding stopgap, or whether 13 Republicans would vote for it.
Republicans have a 53-47 Senate majority, which means 13 GOP members would need to vote with all Democrats to overcome the 60-vote threshold most legislation needs to reach to advance in the upper chamber.
Another major problem is that the House adjourned for the week after passing its six-month government funding measure. Even if the Senate manages to pass a 30-day stopgap, there’s no guarantee the House will pick it up before government funding lapses Friday.
Even so, Democrats emerged from a long lunch meeting Wednesday determined to get a vote on a 30-day CR.
“We definitely need a vote on a 30-day,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said after meeting with Senate Democratic colleagues about the strategy for avoiding a government shutdown at week’s end.
He said that would “give us time to do what Senate Republicans have told us they want to do, which is an appropriations bill.”
“We have a clear alternative ready to go,” he said. “This is my read as of right now, the votes are not there to proceed on their one-sided, Republican-only bill.”
The GOP-led bill passed the House on Tuesday on a nearly party-line 217-213 vote.
Other Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), also called for the Senate to pass a 30-day CR.
Murray called the House-passed bill, which received only one Democratic vote in the lower chamber, “a dumpster fire.”
“I need everyone to understand: The choice absolutely is not dumpster fire or shut down. I should know — I introduced another option [Tuesday]. It’s a short-term CR that would give us time to finish doing our job and negotiate bipartisan, full-year bills,” Murray said on the Senate floor.
Kaine confirmed after the Senate Democratic meeting that right now there aren’t enough Democratic votes to pass the six-month House-approved CR.
“What I do know is this: Democrats had nothing to do with this bill, and we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. That’s what we’re insisting on to vote for cloture,” he said.
Kaine said Congress should pass a 30-day stopgap instead of the House bill “because the Senate appropriators are really close to a deal, and it would be far preferable to a CR.”
“The way to make it better is to do a 30-day completely clean CR and go ahead and finish the deal that we have over here that’s a real [omnibus spending package] for the rest of the year,” he said.
Warner said, “I think we want to see that 30-day CR.”
Updated at 4:07 p.m. EDT
Topics
-
Government funding bill passes House 217-213, heads to Senate for vote
The House narrowly passed a six-month funding bill that would prevent a government shutdown at the end of the week. The measure’s fate is uncertain in the Senate, where several Democrats will be ...NBC News - 1d -
House funding vote puts Senate Democrats in a bind: From the Politics Desk
Senate Democrats are in a politically precarious position after the House passed a stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown.NBC News - 1d -
Schumer says Democrats will block GOP funding bill, raising shutdown alert
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to pass the House-approved deal to fund the government.ABC News - 2h -
After House votes to avert shutdown, Senate Democrats face 'stark' choice
House Republicans passed a bill to fund the government through the end of September 2025. The measure now heads to the Senate, where Democrats face a "stark" choice.ABC News - 1d -
House to vote on government funding bill as shutdown deadline approaches
The House is expected to vote Tuesday on a stopgap measure to keep the government funded through September, days before Friday's shutdown deadline.CBS News - 1d -
Some Senate Democrats split over spending bill to avert government shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans don't currently have the votes to pass the short-term spending bill. Some Democrats say they are split over whether to support the stopgap ...CBS News - 31m -
Senate Democrats appear ready to back down in government shutdown fight
Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House Tuesday is a “horrible” bill, but there’s growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic conference that it ...The Hill - 15h -
Trump-district Democrats face risky vote on GOP spending bill
House Democrats in districts carried by President Trump are confronting a potentially risky vote next week when GOP leaders are expected to put their partisan government funding bill on the floor. ...The Hill - 3d -
Shutdown fight moves to Senate as Democrats weigh support for bill
Senate Democrats are considering the path forward after the House narrowly approved a stopgap measure to keep the government funded.CBS News - 10h
More from The Hill
-
Judge finds Trump unlawfully fired head of federal employee labor board
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that President Trump’s firing of the head of a board that resolves disputes between federal employees and the government was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Sparkle ...The Hill - 55m -
US puts Putin in hot seat with Ukraine ceasefire proposal
Presented by GE Aerospace — {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security PRESENTED BY The Big Story US puts Putin in hot seat with Ukraine ceasefire proposal The United States ...The Hill - 1h -
Distilled Spirits Council CEO warns European whiskey tariff could be 'very, very devastating'
The CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States on Wednesday warned that a European whiskey tariff would be "very, very devastating." “We've just gotten the news early, early this ...The Hill - 1h -
EPA sets stage for cutting climate and pollution regs
Click for more from The Hill. {beacon} Energy & Environment Energy & Environment The Big Story EPA sets stage for cutting climate and pollution regs The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ...The Hill - 2h -
Senate Democrats struggle with funding dilemma as shutdown deadline looms
Senate Democrats are staring down a major dilemma as they agonize over how to handle the GOP’s stopgap spending bill in the face of a potential government shutdown by the end of the week. ...The Hill - 2h
More in Politics
-
Judge finds Trump unlawfully fired head of federal employee labor board
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that President Trump’s firing of the head of a board that resolves disputes between federal employees and the government was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Sparkle ...The Hill - 55m -
US puts Putin in hot seat with Ukraine ceasefire proposal
Presented by GE Aerospace — {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security PRESENTED BY The Big Story US puts Putin in hot seat with Ukraine ceasefire proposal The United States ...The Hill - 1h -
Distilled Spirits Council CEO warns European whiskey tariff could be 'very, very devastating'
The CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States on Wednesday warned that a European whiskey tariff would be "very, very devastating." “We've just gotten the news early, early this ...The Hill - 1h -
Chuck Schumer is in a real shutdown mess. Can he lead Democrats out of it?
Despite pressure from the left to hold firm, some Democratic senators seem headed for an off-ramp.Politico - 1h -
EPA sets stage for cutting climate and pollution regs
Click for more from The Hill. {beacon} Energy & Environment Energy & Environment The Big Story EPA sets stage for cutting climate and pollution regs The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ...The Hill - 2h