Senate works to avert partial government shutdown ahead of midnight
deadline
[March 14, 2025]
By KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate finds itself on Friday in a familiar
position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours
to spare as Democrats confront two painful options: allowing passage of
a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on
spending decisions or voting no and letting a funding lapse ensue.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days
to vent their frustration about the options before them, but late
Thursday made clear he will not allow a government shutdown. His move
gives Democrats room to side with Republicans and allow the continuing
resolution, often described as a CR, to come up for a vote as soon as
Friday.
A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the
package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely
later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with
Republicans to move the funding package forward.
“While the CR still is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has
consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Schumer said.
Congress has been unable to pass the annual appropriations bills
designed to fund the government, so they've resorted to passing
short-term extensions instead. The legislation before the Senate marks
the third such continuing resolution for the current fiscal year, now
nearly half over.
The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of
September. It would trim non-defense spending by about $13 billion from
the previous year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion,
which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level
of nearly $1.7 trillion.
The Republican-led House passed the spending bill on Tuesday and then
adjourned. The move left senators with a decision to either take it or
leave it. And while Democrats have been pushing for a vote on a fourth
short-term extension, GOP leadership made clear that option was a
non-starter.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and others used their floor
time Thursday to make the case that any blame for a shutdown would fall
squarely on Democrats.
“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,” Thune said when opening the chamber.
Progressive groups urged Democratic lawmakers to insist on the 30-day
extension and oppose the spending bill, saying “business as usual must
not continue” while Trump and ally Elon Musk dismantle critical agencies
and programs.
But Schumer said Trump would seize more power during a shutdown, because
it would give the administration the ability to deem whole agencies,
programs and personnel non-essential, furloughing staff with no promise
they would ever be rehired.
“A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and
the country,” Schumer said.
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Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after a Senate
policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Democrats have been critical of the funding levels in the bill. They
note that both defense and non-defense spending is lower than what
was agreed to nearly two years ago when Congress passed legislation
lifting the debt ceiling in return for spending restraints.
But they are even more worried about the discretion the bill gives
the Trump administration on spending decisions. Many Democrats are
referring to the measure as a “blank check” for Trump.
Spending bills typically come with specific funding directives for
key programs, but hundreds of those directives fall away under the
continuing resolution passed by the House. So the administration
will have more leeway to decide where the money goes.
For example, a Democratic memo said the bill would allow the
administration to steer money away from combating fentanyl and
instead use it on mass deportation initiatives. At the Army Corps of
Engineers, funding levels for more than 1,000 projects to enhance
commerce, flood control and healthy ecosystems would be determined
by the administration rather than Congress.
Democrats also object to the treatment of the District of Columbia,
as the bill effectively repeals its current year budget and forces
it to go back to the prior year's levels, even though the district
raises most of its own money. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the district
would have to cut spending by $1.1 billion over just a few months.
Democrats also object to clawing back $20 billion in special IRS
funding, on top of the $20 billion rescission approved the year
before. The changes essentially cut in half the funding boost that
Congress intended to give the agency through legislation passed by
Democrats during Joe Biden's presidency.
The spending bill before the Senate is separate from the GOP effort
to extend tax cuts for individuals passed in Trump's first term and
to pay for those with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
That second package will be developed in the months ahead, but it
was clearly part of the political calculus Democrats were
considering as they argued against the six-month extension. Both
efforts are designed to help the well-off at the expense of other
Americans, they said.
“You're looking at a one-two punch, a very bad CR, then a
reconciliation bill coming down, which will be the final kick in the
teeth for the American people,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the Democratic arguments were
hypocritical because they were essentially calling for shutting down
the government to protect the government.
“Democrats are fighting to withhold the paychecks of air traffic
controllers, our troops, federal custodial staff,” Cotton said.
“They can't be serious.”
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