On Friday night, the U.S. Senate narrowly avoided a midnight federal government shutdown by passing a funding bill after securing enough Democratic support in a key procedural vote.
The measure passed 54-46, largely along party lines. Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and independent Angus King voted in favor, while Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it.
The bill now heads to President Donald Trump, who left Washington, D.C., for his Mar-a-Lago estate earlier in the evening.
The earlier vote to break the filibuster required the approval of at least 60 senators.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was one of nine Democrats and one independent who supported the motion to end the filibuster, which passed 62-38. Kentucky’s Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against cloture.
Other Democrats who voted in favor of cloture included Dick Durbin of Illinois, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Kristen Gillibrand of New York, Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez Masto of Hawaii, Gary Peters of Michigan, and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. King also voted in favor.
With 53 Republicans in the Senate, Democratic support was essential to overcoming the filibuster. For some matters, including the funding bill, only a simple majority is needed, with the Senate president—typically the vice president—casting the tie-breaking vote if necessary.
The Senate was voting on a six-month government funding bill that had already been approved by the House, which adjourned until March 24.
The 99-page bill includes a modest increase in military spending while cutting $13 billion from domestic nondefense programs.
On Thursday, Schumer announced on the Senate floor that he would be voting in favor of the measure.
Explaining his decision on Friday, he stated: “My job as leader is to lead the party and if there’s going to be danger in the near future, to protect the party,” he said. “And I’m proud I did it. I knew I did the right thing, and I knew there would be some disagreements. That’s how it always is.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed confidence on Friday morning that the chamber would avoid a government shutdown.
“The sooner we get this wrapped up, the better, honestly, but you know, obviously it’s somewhat dictated by the tempo the Democrats are dictating,” Thune said.
President Donald Trump praised Schumer’s actions on Friday, posting on Truth Social:
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing – Took ‘guts’ and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming. We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights.
Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning!”
The continuing resolution (CR) bill, which funds the federal government through September 30, passed the House on Tuesday in a near party-line vote of 217-213, with one Democrat voting in favor and one Republican voting against.
House Democrats largely opposed the CR, as reflected in a statement released Thursday by their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who stated that Democrats in Congress “remain strongly opposed to the partisan spending bill under consideration in the Senate.”
U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who aligned with Schumer when she served as House Speaker until 2023, criticized Senate Democrats who supported the GOP-led funding bill.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America,” Pelosi said in a statement.
US Capitol Building (Photo: Getty Images)
Meanwhile, with the House adjourned, House Democrats gathered 40 miles away in Leesburg, Virginia, for their annual policy retreat.
More than 50 House Democrats signed a letter criticizing Schumer’s decision, including fellow New Yorker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called the move “a tremendous mistake.” ABC News reported that some Democrats are even urging her to challenge Schumer in the 2028 election.
“What voting for the CR does is that it codifies the chaos and the reckless cuts that Elon Musk has been pursuing,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The robbing of our federal government in order to finance tax cuts for billionaires is what is happening, and that is what Senate Democrats will be empowering if they vote for the CR.”
Schumer defended his position on the Senate floor Thursday, arguing that Democrats had proposed “a way out” with a temporary stopgap measure to fund the government for another month, but Republicans “outright” rejected it.
He accused Trump of seeking “full control of government spending” and pressuring GOP senators “to cower into submission” instead of negotiating a more balanced CR.
He warned that a government shutdown would allow Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, to wield unchecked authority, stating:
“Full authority to deem whole agencies, programs, and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired,” he said, adding that determining what remains essential would be left “solely” to the Executive Branch, with “nobody left at the agencies to check them.”
Democrats had been pushing for a 30-day continuing resolution, but tensions within their own caucus escalated behind closed doors. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet became visibly frustrated during a private Senate Democratic meeting this week.
Two sources claimed Bennet accused Senate Democratic leadership of having “no strategy, no plan, and no message” regarding the spending bill. Tina Smith of Minnesota echoed similar concerns, issuing a statement:
“This bill we are voting on is not a ‘clean Continuing Resolution,’ and it does not continue the spending and policy law that Congress passed last year,” she said, noting that funding cuts would impact healthcare services.
“President Trump and House Republicans wrote this bill on their own, with no consideration for my views or any of my Democratic colleagues, and they will own the consequences. From the beginning, President Trump and the Republicans set this up as an unprecedented power grab.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington also criticized the bill, arguing that it grants the Trump administration excessive discretion over spending.
She characterized it as providing “slush funds for the Trump administration to reshape spending priorities, eliminate longstanding programs, pick winners and losers.”
Meanwhile, Fetterman was the first Democrat to publicly support the measure, announcing on X Wednesday:
“I will never vote to shut the government down.”
He explained: “There are going to be people that are going to vote no on this, but they will be free riders because they know, secretly, they know that shutting the government down is (going) to be a disaster.”
