Schumer says GOP doesn't have votes to pass funding bill as shutdown fight moves to Senate
Washington — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Republicans on Wednesday that they do not have the votes to approve a House-passed stopgap measure to keep the government funded through September, with a fast-approaching Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.
"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, while pushing for a vote on a shorter-term funding measure following a lengthy lunch meeting with his caucus to determine the path forward.
House Republicans approved the six-month funding measure with the support of just one Democrat on Tuesday. The bill, known as a continuing resolution, increases defense spending and funding for veterans' health care, while decreasing non-defense spending below 2024 levels. It also includes more funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
With the House passage, the measure is now in the hands of the Senate, where Republicans, with a 53-seat majority, need support from Democrats to reach a 60-vote threshold to propel the measure to passage.
Funding the government is usually a bipartisan effort. But Democrats widely oppose the measure, 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, while expressing frustration with the spending reductions.
But Democrats aren't generally inclined to let the government shut down, either. And the House opted to cancel votes Wednesday and leave town, in hopes of preventing the Senate from changing the continuing resolution or passing a different version before Friday's deadline.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has also pledged to oppose the House-passed measure, making support from at least eight Democrats necessary to pass the measure and send it to the president's desk. That Democratic support could come from senators who represent states that President Trump won in November, who face added pressure to work across party lines.
After their lunch meeting Wednesday, Senate Democrats said they want to see a vote on a shorter-term funding measure that would give appropriators more time to flesh out new spending bills. On Monday, the top Democratic appropriators, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, introduced a continuing resolution that would fund the government through April 11.
"I think people want to see a vote on the 30-day CR to let the process finish," Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said after the meeting. "I think there's still a chance, I believe, to get something done."
Schumer then took to the Senate floor to outline that Democrats are "unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass," saying "we should vote on that."
Still, Democrats have limited leverage in the funding fight, and the move to deny votes may be a face-saving measure. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed opposition to the short-term continuing resolution Tuesday, saying it continues to "punt the problem down the road."
"At this point there's really one solution on the table," Thune said, noting that the House-passed stopgap measure keeps the government open and addresses core issues. "We think it represents the best solution at the moment."
House Speaker Mike Johnson notched a major win when he kept his conference almost entirely united behind the counting resolution on Tuesday. He said at a news conference after the vote that he's hopeful Democrats will join Republicans to prevent a possible shutdown at week's end.
"I certainly hope that there are enough Democrats in the Senate who have a conscience who will do the right thing by the American people and take care of business over there," the speaker said.
