Senate averts government shutdown, overcomes Democratic opposition

The U.S. Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Friday evening, averting a partial government shutdown and overcoming Democratic opposition to the measure. The bill passed 54-46 after clearing a more difficult procedural hurdle to stop debate on the measure, which required at least 60 votes. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week to meet a March 14 deadline to keep the government running. Senate Democrats had fractured over whether to support the short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government for the next six months, reduce total government spending by about $7 billion from last year's levels and shift money to the military and away from non-defense spending. Many Democrats expressed anger after the top-ranking Democrat in the chamber, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, announced Thursday night that while he disliked the bill, a shutdown was a “far worse option.” Speaking on the Senate floor Friday morning, Schumer said not passing the Republican funding bill would give more power to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk, including which agencies would be shut down. "A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive," he said. Dozens of House Democrats, who opposed the funding measure in the lower chamber, sent a letter to Schumer on Friday, expressing their "strong opposition" to his plan to vote for the bill. Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Senate Democrats to go against their leader. In a Friday statement, she wrote, "America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse." When questioned by reporters Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to say whether he backed Schumer’s leadership. Trump had called on Congress to pass the funding bill and on Friday praised Schumer for supporting it. "Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took 'guts' and courage!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "I have great respect, by the way, for what Schumer did today. He went out and he said that they have to vote with the Republicans because it's the right thing to do," Trump said during a speech at the Department of Justice. Appropriations bills require a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, which means Republicans needed to secure at least eight Democratic votes. The bill cleared the procedural hurdle 62-38. Several amendments to the bill failed, but one that proposed eliminating funding for DOGE drew the support of one Republican. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has been outspoken in her criticism of the initiative by Musk. Schumer previously called for the Senate to pass an earlier version of the CR that Democrats were involved in negotiating. "Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input, from congressional Democrats," Schumer said on the Senate floor late Wednesday. The House passed the short-term spending measure 217-213 on Tuesday. One Democrat voted for the bill and one Republican against it. The chamber went out of session for the rest of the week starting Tuesday afternoon, putting pressure on senators to pass its version of the CR. House Speaker Mike Johnson quelled dissent from within his Republican Party to pass the spending measure. He told reporters Tuesday the seven-month continuing resolution was an important step toward implementing Trump's agenda of rooting out government waste and abuse through DOGE. "It allows us to move forward with changing the size and scope of the federal government. There is a seismic shift going on in Washington right now. This is a different moment than we have ever been in. The DOGE work is finding massive amounts of fraud, waste and abuse," Johnson said. "We have a White House that is actually dedicated to getting us back onto a fiscally responsible track." Independent watchdogs and analysts, however, say DOGE is using overly broad claims of fraud to generate support for large-scale cuts to federal programs and offices. Representative Thomas Massie was the lone Republican holdout, despite Trump's post Monday night on Truth Social calling for Massie to lose his seat if he voted against the spending measure. The continuing resolution buys lawmakers time to reach a compromise on Senate and House versions of government spending for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, a key tool for implementing Trump's domestic policy agenda. At question is how and when to enact a proposed extension of the 2017 tax cuts and how to pay down the U.S. deficit without cutting key safety net programs that help American voters.