The U.S. Senate has successfully passed a stopgap spending bill on Friday evening, avoiding a partial government shutdown and overcoming Democratic opposition to the measure. The bill, which passed with a vote of 54-46, had faced a difficult procedural hurdle requiring at least 60 votes to stop debate.
This comes after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this week, in order to meet the March 14 deadline to keep the government running. However, Senate Democrats were divided 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 $7 billion from last year’s levels, and shift funds from non-defense spending to the military.
Despite some initial opposition, many Democrats ultimately came to the realization that a government shutdown would be a “far worse option” than supporting the bill, as stated by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer explained that not passing the Republican funding bill would give more power to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk, including the ability to choose which agencies would be shut down.
“A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive,” Schumer warned. This sentiment was echoed by dozens of House Democrats who sent a letter to Schumer expressing their “strong opposition” to his plan to vote for the bill. Even former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Senate Democrats to go against their leader, stating that “America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse.”
However, despite the initial backlash, the bill ultimately received support from both sides of the aisle. President Trump, who had called on Congress to pass the funding bill, praised Schumer for his decision to support it. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing – took ‘guts’ and courage!” He also commended Schumer during a speech at the Department of Justice, stating, “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.”
The bill’s passage was not without its challenges, as appropriations bills require a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate. This meant that Republicans needed to secure at least eight Democratic votes, which they were able to do with a vote of 62-38. While several amendments to the bill failed, one that proposed eliminating funding for DOGE did receive support from one Republican. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has been vocal in her criticism of the initiative led by Musk.
Schumer had previously called for the Senate to pass an earlier version of the CR that had been negotiated with Democrats. In a statement on the Senate floor, he emphasized the importance of bipartisan efforts in funding the government. “But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input from congressional Democrats,” Schumer said.
The House had passed the short-term spending measure with a vote of 217-213 on Tuesday, with one Democrat voting for the bill and one Republican voting against it. The House then went out of session for the rest of the week, putting pressure on senators to pass their version of the CR. House Speaker Mike Johnson was able to quell dissent within his own party and secure the passage of the spending measure. He stated that the seven-month continuing resolution was a crucial step towards 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 explained. “We have a White House that is actually dedicated to getting us back onto a fiscally responsible track.”
However, independent watchdogs and analysts have raised concerns about DOGE’s use of overly broad claims of fraud to justify large-scale cuts to federal programs and offices. Representative Thomas Massie was the only Republican to vote against the bill, despite Trump’s post on Truth Social calling for him to lose his seat if he voted against the measure.
The passing of the continuing resolution provides lawmakers with more time to reach a compromise on the Senate and House versions of government spending for the next fiscal year, which begins in October. This is a
