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.
If the vulnerable Democrats support the bill, they’ll defy the position of their own leadership and undermine the party’s argument that the legislation is a threat to basic public services across the country.
If they oppose it, they’re sure to face Republican attacks accusing them of endorsing a government shutdown — especially if the bill fails and a shutdown does occur.
To be sure, the Republicans would be in the tougher political predicament if the government is forced to shutter, since they control all levers of power in Washington and their spending bill is a go-it-alone effort that excluded Democrats from the drafting. Democrats have long portrayed Republicans as incompetent stewards of government, and a shutdown on the GOP’s watch would provide them more ammunition to make that case.
Still, those details might carry less sway with voters in the 13 Trump-won districts currently represented by Democrats, who face heavier pressure to cross the aisle in the promotion of bipartisanship. It’s those regions where GOP campaign operatives are eying every opportunity to highlight controversial votes in the effort to pick off vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the 2026 midterms.
Next week’s vote on government spending might be one such vote.
A number of those lawmakers are already defying the GOP threats with vows to oppose the continuing resolution (CR) when it comes up for a vote. Those voices are siding with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Democratic leaders.
“We need to pass full-year spending bills negotiated through a bipartisan process, but the party in power in the House, Senate, and White House has chosen not to do so — all while President Trump and unelected Billionaire Elon Musk are shutting down legally appropriated funds,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said Friday in an email.
“We cannot continue to kick the can down the road. We need to come to the table together and work together in a bipartisan fashion to get our work done for the American people," she continued. "I would support a bill that protects the middle class, seniors, veterans, small businesses, emergency responders, farmers, growers, and producers, and our Northwest Ohio communities. I cannot in good conscience vote for legislation that puts Northwest Ohio and our people on the chopping block to pay for tax cuts for Billionaires.”
Another frontline Democrat opposing the GOP strategy is Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.). Asked this week if he would support a long-term CR, the Long Island Democrat — who represents another district carried by Trump last year — didn’t hesitate at all.
“No,” he said.
Still, the offices of a vast majority of the 13 Democrats in Trump-won districts did not respond Friday to requests for comment about how they’ll vote on the CR. And one of those lawmakers, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), appeared to leave the door open to supporting it.
While Cuellar blasted the CR strategy and endorsed “a bipartisan spending agreement,” he also made clear that he’s averse to shuttering the government.
“I do not support government shutdowns,” he said in an email. “As an appropriator, it has always been my top priority to ensure American taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and effectively. I am also focused on ensuring our vital services are protected.
“It is time to get a bipartisan agreement.”
The Democratic opposition could prove crucial to the fate of the legislation, since House Republicans hold just a razor-thin majority in the lower chamber, and even a few GOP defections would sink the bill if Democrats are united in opposition.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and GOP leadership unveiled the funding legislation on Saturday. The legislation, known as a continuing resolution (CR), would keep the government funded through Sept. 30 and seeks cuts to nondefense programs while boosting funding for defense.
But the CR strategy marks a departure from the initial plan of negotiating a bipartisan deal on higher levels of spending for 2025, as outlined by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), which was approved by both parties in 2023.
After Johnson abandoned those talks, Democratic leaders came out in opposition to the CR, warning that Republicans will be on their own to pass the bill.
In a letter sent Friday to Democratic lawmakers, the top party leaders — Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (Calif.) — said the Republicans’ bill is a “partisan” effort “that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year.”
“That is not acceptable,” the Democrats wrote.
Democrats have also sought assurances that the White House would spend the money as Congress appropriates in the wake of President Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy, which has been a nonstarter for Republicans.
The Democratic leaders are hoping their opposition to the CR will force Republicans back to the negotiating table, where Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, had been in bipartisan talks for months in search of an agreement on the 2025 numbers.
Upping the stakes, a number of conservative Republicans have declined to commit to supporting the CR when it hits the floor next week.
“I’m open [to a CR], but like I said, I want to see what’s in it,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told reporters this week. “You can call it anything you want, I just want to see what’s in it.”
Republicans, fighting to downplay their own internal divisions, are already trying to exploit the Democratic opposition. Just minutes after the Democratic leaders released their letter on Friday, the GOP’s campaign arm issued a statement attempting to shift the blame for any shutdown on the Democrats.
“House Democrats admitted they wanted a government shutdown, and now they're following through,” Mike Marinella, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), said Friday in a statement.
“They're deliberately making our country less safe and less prosperous just to score political points.”
How far that message resonates with the Democrats in Trump-won districts remains to be seen.
Mychael Schnell contributed reporting.
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