US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will hold a press conference on November 19, 2024, following a weekly Senate Democrat policy lunch at the US Capitol in Washington, USA.
Elizabeth Franz | Reuters
The Senate passed a six-month fundraising bill on Friday, avoiding government shutdown hours before the midnight deadline and sending it to President Donald Trump to sign the law.
The vote was 54-46, with two Democrats taking part in all but one Republican. Earlier on Friday, the bill cleared a key procedural hurdle with the help of 10 Democrats with 62-38 votes. They needed 60 votes to defeat the democratic filibuster.
The vote comes after a dramatic 48-hour period when Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer broke DN.Y. with most House and Senate Democrats. Schumer ultimately voted no on the final passage of the law.
The bill, which cleared the House by a partisan vote earlier this week, will be funded by the government at the end of this fiscal year.
Under pressure from the left flank and the House of Representatives to block the GOP funding package, Schumer kept his card close to the best on his shutdown strategy throughout the week.
But on Thursday, Schumer voted to move forward with the funding bill, saying he would do the same for other Democrats, significantly reducing the threat of catastrophic closure amid widespread economic uncertainty.
Defending his decision in a floor speech on Friday, Schumer warned that the closure would be far worse than passing the GOP bill. He argued that the closure would further strengthen Trump, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, and Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal workforce and government services. They can do that, Schumer said by directing by closure who is “essential” and non-essential workers.
“Obviously, this is Hobson’s choice. CR is a bad bill. But it’s just as bad as CR. I think it’s a much worse option for Donald Trump to take more power through government shutdowns,” Schumer said.
“The shutdown allows Doge to move to overdrive. …It gives Donald Trump and Doge the key to cities, states and countries,” he continued.
On March 10, 2025, the views of the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
In addition to Schumer, nine other Democrats voted to advance the bill. Officer Dick Durbin of Illinois, Catherine Cortez Mast of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maggie Hagjan and Angus King of New Hampshire, and Maine independent kings conspired with Democrats.
However, two of these Democratic Caucus members (Shaheen and King) voted yes for the underlying fundraising bill.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to oppose the bill, both on the procedural and final votes.
Cortez Mast repeated Schumer, saying that the closure would result in thousands of federal workers giving unpaid Farrow, Hand Trump and Musk more empowering federal agencies.
“The government shutdown will be devastating for Americans. It would force tens of thousands of Nevada military personnel, union members, law enforcement and nurses to work unpaid,” Cortez Masto said in a statement. “The last government shutdown cost the US economy $11 billion and thousands of hardworking Americans were harmed. I can’t vote for it.”
But Schumer’s move infuriated House Democrats who gathered 40 miles away in Leesburg, Virginia. All but one House Democrat, Maine Rep. Jared Golden voted against Mike Johnson’s six-month bill on Tuesday.
A House Democrat woman held a press conference ahead of her procedural vote on Friday, urging her Senate colleagues to maintain the boundaries of the GOP bill.
“The American people are literally screaming from the roof, and this is a five-alarm emergency and we are screaming that we cannot hand over the keys of this big, beautiful kingdom of democracy.
Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y, and his leadership team, the House minority leader who emphasized division among Democrats on the hill, returned to the Capitol on Friday to hold a press conference pleading with Senate Democrats to reject the GOP fundraising bill.
They urged Congress to pass a 30-day suspension funding bill on behalf of its members, which would buy more time for bipartisan negotiators to win a one-year budget contract on government funding.
“It’s an unacceptable, merciless, American spending bill, so House Democrats continue to oppose it,” he said, among his top leaders, EU, Rep. Katherine Clark, and D-Mass. and Jeffries, who was caught between D-Calif MP Pete Aguilar.
“House Democrats are here. We are ready to pass a four-week spending bill that will keep the government open, allowing the House and Senate to negotiate actual agreements that meet the needs of the American people,” Jeffries added.
The GOP method simply expands funding at current levels, rather than the typical stop measurements known as continuous resolution or CR. The 99-page spending bill includes a small increase in military spending and a $13 billion reduction in domestic non-disability spending. It was created by a GOP leader who took an opinion from the White House and removed the Democrats from the process.
In addition, D-Wash is a ranking member of the Budget Committee. and other Democrat Sen. Patty Murray lamented that the bill consists of a way that passes too much flexibility in how certain pots of money are used. According to Murray’s memo, the GOP scale stated that “the Trump administration will restructure its spending priorities, eliminate long-standing programs, and create slash funds for selecting winners and losers.”
The bill also forces the District of Columbia to return to budget levels for fiscal year 2024, cutting over $1 billion in local spending that could affect schools, police and other services.
Speaking in the Senate, Senator John Tune, Rs.D. argued that Democrats who controlled the Senate majority in the previous Congress did not complete the regular spending process last year, forcing lawmakers to pass yet another suspension funding measure.
The Senate Budget Committee was sent to pass 11th floor of 12 spending bills funding federal agencies and legislative departments, but Schumer never took him to the ballot.
“So today we’re about to finish last year’s work, so we can start this year’s work,” Thune said Friday. “To be clear, Republicans aren’t excited about another CR, but it’s our best option to ensure that last year’s Democrats fail to hinder this year’s spending process.”
