On Friday evening, the U.S. Senate passed a crucial stopgap spending bill, avoiding a partial government shutdown and overcoming opposition from Democrats. The bill, which was passed by a vote of 54-46, had cleared a major procedural hurdle earlier in the day, requiring at least 60 votes to stop debate.
The bill had previously been passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier in the week, in order to meet the March 14 deadline to keep the government functioning. 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. The bill would also reduce government spending by $7 billion from last year’s levels, with a shift in funds from non-defense spending to the military.
Many Democrats expressed their frustration after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday night that, while he did not agree with the bill, a government shutdown would be a “far worse option.” Speaking on the Senate floor on Friday morning, Schumer stated that not passing the funding bill would give more power to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, including the ability to decide which agencies would be shut down. He warned that a shutdown would allow DOGE to “shift into overdrive.”
This statement caused some House Democrats, who had opposed the funding measure in the lower chamber, to send 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 in a Friday statement that “America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse.”
When questioned by reporters on Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to comment on whether he supported Schumer’s leadership. However, President Trump praised Schumer for supporting the funding bill, writing on his Truth Social platform, “Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing – it took guts and courage!” During a speech at the Department of Justice, Trump also expressed his respect for Schumer’s decision, stating that “he went out and he said that they have to vote with the Republicans because it’s the right thing to do.”
The bill required a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate, meaning that Republicans needed to secure at least eight Democratic votes. The bill cleared this hurdle with a vote of 62-38. Although several amendments to the bill failed, one that proposed eliminating funding for DOGE did receive the support of one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has been vocal in her criticism of Musk’s initiative.
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 on Wednesday, he stated, “Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort. But Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input from congressional Democrats.”
The House had passed the short-term spending measure on Tuesday with a vote of 217-213. One Democrat voted for the bill and one Republican voted 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 managed to quell dissent from within his own party in order to pass the spending measure. In a press conference on Tuesday, 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. He also emphasized that the current political climate in Washington is unique and that the work of DOGE has already uncovered massive amounts of fraud, waste, and abuse. “We have a White House that is dedicated to getting us back on a fiscally responsible track,” he added.
However, independent watchdogs and analysts have raised concerns about DOGE’s use of 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 on Monday night calling for Massie to lose his seat if he voted against the spending measure.
The passing of the continuing resolution buys lawmakers 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 crucial tool for implementing Trump’s domestic policy agenda. The main points of contention are how and when to enact an extension of the 2017
