WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., indicated Thursday he would vote to advance Republicans’ six-month funding bill that passed the House to avert a government shutdown Friday night.
The move is a major concession from Schumer, yielding to the GOP measure just one day after he vowed that Democrats wouldn’t allow it to pass. It means the bill is likely to find enough votes to clear the 60-vote threshold and eventually pass with a simple majority, even as a growing number of Senate Democrats came out in opposition to it Thursday.
“There are no winners in a government shutdown,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “It’s not really a decision; it’s a Hobson’s choice: Either proceed with the bill before us or risk Donald Trump throwing America into the chaos of a shutdown.
“For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It is not a clean CR [continuing resolution]. It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” he added. “I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.”
Schumer informed his colleagues in a closed-door meeting that he would vote for the procedural motion to advance the funding bill when it comes to the Senate floor Friday, according to a source familiar with his remarks. The New York Times first reported Schumer’s private comments.
If the Senate passes the bill, it would then go to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. A shutdown occurs after 11:59 p.m. ET Friday if no law is enacted by then.
“We have a choice between terrible and awful,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
It’s unclear what, if anything, Schumer got in return for his decision to allow the House bill to proceed. He told reporters after his Senate speech that Democrats would “try to get some amendments on the bill.”
Before his comments, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., hinted that Democrats could try to secure a vote on an amendment to the House bill to turn it into a 30-day, rather than a six-month, stopgap measure. But he didn’t commit to dropping opposition to the bill if the amendment were voted down.
John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, is the only Senate Democrat who has said he’d vote to advance the House bill; several others have stayed quiet about how they would handle a procedural vote. Schumer told reporters that “members are making their own decisions right now.”
Earlier in the day, a growing number of Senate Democrats vowed to oppose the legislation. They included John Hickenlooper, of Colorado, who called the bill “dangerous”; Mark Kelly, of Arizona, who said it would “give unchecked power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk”; Ruben Gallego, of Arizona, who blasted it as “a grab bag of extreme policies”; and Mark Warner, of Virginia, who called it “a terrible deal” that would hurt Virginia.
“One thing is certain: If we pass this continuing resolution for the next half year, we will own what the president does,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. “I am not willing to take ownership of that.”
From outside the Democratic lunch meeting, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., could be heard yelling about devastating impacts of a government shutdown, particularly now.
Senators have faced heavy pressure from House Democratic colleagues and liberal advocates outside of the Capitol to hold the line against the funding bill, which was crafted by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the White House.
Earlier this week, just one House Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for the bill, which party leaders in the chamber railed against.
After Schumer spoke on the Senate floor, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters there is a “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” from House Democrats.
“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States, who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. … Just to see some Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think it is a huge slap in the face, and I think that there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned,” she said.
Yet even as some Democrats were rallying against the House GOP bill, they struggled to offer a plausible endgame to avert a shutdown — or reopen the government if funding lapses after Friday night. They demanded a 30-day stopgap measure to continue funding at status quo levels to reach a full funding deal for fiscal year 2025.
That discombobulated approach clashes with the fact that Trump and Johnson have said they don’t want an appropriations deal for a fiscal year that is already half over, as they want to move on to their party-line budget bill to address taxes, immigration and other priorities.
“We’re trying to convince them. Now, they can be convinced or unconvinced,” Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said about the GOP’s rejection of a new appropriations deal.
Democratic senators have cited numerous objections to the House bill.
First, they had no input in developing it — some in the party fear that voting for it would empower Johnson and Trump to dictate outcomes without negotiating with Democrats to earn their votes.
Second, they object to provisions that would cut nondefense domestic spending by billions of dollars, including a hit to Washington, D.C.’s budget, while boosting military spending — a move they see as sacrificing Democratic priorities for GOP priorities.
Third, they worry that voting for the measure without guardrails on executive power would green-light Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s moves to dismantle parts of the federal government or refuse to spend money directed by Congress.
A new memo Thursday from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, led by longtime Democratic adviser Neera Tanden, called on the party to hold the line against the House Republican bill, making the policy and messaging case for it.
“While the consequences of a shutdown are real, Democrats bear no responsibility in fact or in public perception if they continue to support a clean CR or clean 30-day CR. However, supporting the MAGA plan will sap momentum that is building against Republicans,” said the memo, which NBC News obtained from a congressional Democratic source who received it. “Lawmakers must focus on connecting the so-called CR to how the Administration and DOGE are actively causing radical harm.”
Some Democrats believe voters will blame Republicans in the event of a government shutdown. In a new Quinnipiac University national poll, 53% of registered voters said they would blame Trump or Republicans in Congress if the government shut down; 32% said they would blame Democrats. Another 15% didn’t know or wouldn’t say.
“Jiminy Christmas! Republicans control the House, Senate and White House,” said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.
But Senate Republican leaders say it’s time to dispense with the debate over fiscal 2025 funding, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Thursday on the floor that the House bill was the only path to prevent a shutdown.
“Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House or if they’re going to shut down the government,” he said.
Schumer told reporters after his floor speech that he’s convinced he made the right decision because of how difficult it would be to reopen the government.
“There is no off-ramp,” he said. “Anyone who thinks there might be an off-ramp knows it depends on the Republicans, and I don’t trust them at all. I think they want a shutdown, and I think they want to use the shutdown to decimate the federal government.”
