Senate Dems set to filibuster GOP budget resolution
Benjamin Weiss
WASHINGTON (CN) — Concerns about a costly government shutdown spiked Wednesday afternoon after Senate Democrats signaled that they would filibuster a Republican budget measure, a move apparently aimed at getting GOP leaders to come to the table and negotiate a shorter-term spending patch.
Democrats have been furious in recent days as congressional Republicans forged ahead with budget legislation, commonly known as a continuing resolution, that would keep most government programs funded at current levels through September. They’ve argued that putting off debate on a full-year spending package gives President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk the latitude to make major policy moves without input from Congress.
And Democrats have also complained that the GOP moved a continuing resolution without any bipartisan consensus — the House earlier this week passed its version of the measure with only one Democrat voting in favor.
Now the spending legislation has hit a snag in the Senate, just days before government funding is set to expire Friday night. In remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proclaimed that Republicans “do not have the votes” to pass a procedural measure setting the continuing resolution up for final approval.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort,” he said. “But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input from congressional Democrats.”
The Senate needs 60 votes to clear the procedural hurdle, known as cloture, that would tee up final passage for the proposed continuing resolution. That means Republicans, who control a small majority in the upper chamber, need a handful of Democrats to cross the aisle and back the measure.
With Kentucky Senator Rand Paul — a Republican — already a ‘no’ on the continuing resolution, the GOP needs to court eight Democratic votes if it has any hope of passing the spending patch before Friday’s fiscal deadline.
But Schumer said Democrats were “unified" in their desire for a compromise continuing resolution that would only extend funding for federal programs through April 11 to give lawmakers time to negotiate “bipartisan legislation that can pass.”
The Democratic leader positioned his Republican colleagues as the ones who would be responsible for a possible government shutdown if they refused to blink.
“I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday,” he said.
Though the GOP-led continuing resolution does extend funding for most federal programs and would avert a government shutdown, the measure includes provisions which amount to poison pills for Democrats. The legislation would slash line items such as federal rent assistance and veterans’ health care programs — cuts aimed at appeasing budget hawks, but which critics have framed as harmful.
House Democrats complained earlier this week that Republicans had walked away from negotiations on a shorter-term continuing resolution because the Trump administration demanded that Congress approve a budget patch that extends into the fall.
And while House Republicans were able to push their measure through the lower chamber, where they only needed a simple majority to pass it, the legislation was always slated for an uphill battle in the Senate.
The GOP, meanwhile, is already setting the stage to blame Democrats if their continuing resolution falters ahead of Friday’s funding deadline.
Speaking on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Schumer had “a big decision to make” in whether to support the proposed budget stopgap.
“Is he going to cast a vote to keep the government open or is he going to be blamed for shutting it down?” he said. “That’s very clearly what they have to decide, and I hope they do the right thing — because government shutdowns … are harmful for everybody.”
Lawmakers have until midnight on Friday to approve some sort of legislation to keep the government open.