Schumer says he’ll vote to keep government open as Democrats criticize GOP plan

Washington — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll vote to keep the government open as the chamber prepares to take up a GOP stopgap bill continuing government funding Friday. 

“I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people,” Schumer said. “Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open, and not shut it down.”

His support for the measure signaled that Democrats would let the measure pass to prevent a shutdown as the caucus grappled Thursday with the uncomfortable choice.

In a lengthy speech from the Senate floor, the New York Democrat outlined his opposition to the House-passed bill but went on to say that his bigger worry was about what failing to fund the government could bring. He warned that a government shutdown would give President Trump and his allies “the keys to the city, state and country,” arguing that “while the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.”

The Senate plans to take up the House-passed bill to fund the government through September beginning on Friday. Republicans need 60 votes to invoke cloture and advance the measure, meaning it will need the support of Democrats to get to a vote on final passage. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have been considering a plan to pave the way for a vote on final passage of the Republican-led bill in exchange for a doomed-to-fail vote on their own 30-day alternative. 

With government funding set to expire on Friday night, Democrats have found themselves in the position of being able to block the GOP bill, but also wary of the government shutdown that would ensue if they do so. Democratic leaders have instead been pushing for a 30-day funding extension that would allow more time for negotiations on new spending bills — a nonstarter, given Republican control of the House and Senate.

A possible solution began to emerge after Senate Democrats met on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The plan would call for Democrats to provide the votes needed to advance the GOP bill in exchange for a vote on an amendment with their own one-month stopgap measure, which would almost certainly fail. Democrats who oppose the GOP version could then vote against its final passage. Some members see it as a way to save face while also avoiding a shutdown.

“I think we’re going to all be ‘no’ on cloture unless we get an agreement to propose at least this 30-day clean [continuing resolution] amendment and maybe a couple of others,” Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia told reporters Thursday. “So we’ll be ‘no’ on cloture unless we get an agreement to do that. I’m not aware of whether the Republicans have agreed to that yet, but we’ll be ‘no’ on cloture if we don’t get it, and I think that’s a unified position.”

The House approved the six-month funding measure on Tuesday largely along party lines, sending the funding fight to the Senate. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters ahead of Schumer’s remarks that his office has been in touch with the minority leader’s staff, but Democrats haven’t made a formal offer. Thune noted that if Democrats want a vote on the 30-day continuing resolution in exchange for helping Republicans reach the 60-vote threshold on the House-passed bill, “they can get that.”

“There’s basically one path to keep the government from shutting down and one door to unlock, and Democrats have the keys,” he said. Thune filed cloture on the House-passed measure Thursday night, setting up a Friday vote.

Democrats emerged from Wednesday’s meeting touting their alternate plan that would fund the government until April 11. Schumer warned Republicans that they do not have the votes to approve the House-passed stopgap measure, which increases defense spending and funding for veterans’ health care, while decreasing non-defense spending below 2024 levels. 

Although efforts to fund the government usually find bipartisan support, Democrats widely oppose the measure and have expressed frustration with the spending reductions, while warning that it would give the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency even more latitude to carry out cost-slashing efforts. The possibility of forcing a shutdown is one of the few points of leverage Democrats have as the minority in both chambers.

But Democrats also fear the fallout of a lapse in funding, which could serve as the pretext for the Trump administration to make even deeper cuts across the federal workforce. Some Senate Democrats see the plan to vote for cloture but against final passage as a way to thread the needle, while others have argued that a vote on the short-term continuing resolution isn’t for show. 

Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said the approach isn’t a gimmick, noting the bipartisan work that has been done so far on new funding bills that would go by the wayside with the House-passed funding extension.

“What would be an absolute crime is to support a House bill written only by Republicans,” Merkley said, adding, “You don’t stop a bully by handing over your lunch money, and you don’t stop a president like Trump from being authoritarian by proceeding to give in and give him more power again.”

Frustrations appeared to mount among Democrats throughout the day on Thursday, as they met again behind closed doors on the issue. As the meeting let out, a number of Democrats released statements on social media announcing that they would vote no on the House-passed continuing resolution, while they otherwise remained tight-lipped about their intentions. 

Meanwhile, some outspoken progressives have denounced the plan, saying the party is capitulating to the president and Republicans while getting nothing substantive in return.

“I hope Senate Democrats understand there is nothing clever about setting up a fake failed 30 day CR first to turn around & vote for cloture on the GOP spending bill,” New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted on X on Thursday. “Those games won’t fool anyone. It won’t trick voters, it won’t trick House members. People will not forget it.”

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, the sole Democrat who publicly said he would back the House-passed measure, likewise criticized the idea of exchanging support for cloture for a vote on the short-term continuing resolution.

“The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes,” Fetterman said in a post on X. “Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.”