US Senate passes Republican funding bill to dismay of House Democrats

The Senate on Friday approved a Republican bill to fund federal agencies through September, averting a government shutdown hours before the midnight deadline after Democrats relented.

The bill passed the Senate in a 54-46 vote, overcoming steep Democratic opposition. It next goes to Donald Trump to be signed into law.

The result infuriated Democratic activists, who accused the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, of squandering the little leverage they have to defy Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, as they seek to dismantle large swaths of the federal government. But Schumer said a funding lapse presented an even worse outcome that would have allowed Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) “to exploit the crisis for maximum destruction”.

Speaking to reporters before departing Washington on Friday, Trump again praised Schumer’s decision. “I think he did the right thing,” he said.

To break the filibuster, which requires 60 votes, 10 Senate Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to advance the House-passed funding bill. As part of a deal to secure the necessary Democratic votes, the parties agreed to allow a series of amendments on the measure.

In a statement, Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said his vote should not be mistaken for an endorsement of what he called a “deeply flawed” spending bill.

“My YES vote on cloture IS 100% about refusing to shut our government down,” he said, referring to the procedural vote. “I refuse to punish working families and plunge millions of Americans into chaos or risk a recession.”

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Schumer and Fetterman were joined by Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, Gary Peters of Michigan, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, both senators from New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, and Angus King, an independent of Maine who caucuses with Democrats.

Only King and Shaheen supported the bill on final passage, which requires a simple majority to pass. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to vote against it.

“You don’t stop a bully by giving him your lunch money, and you don’t stop tyrant Trump by giving him more power,” said Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, whose amendment to restore the roughly $20bn in funding cuts to IRS enforcement failed along party lines.

“The Republican spending bill is a blank check for Trump, giving him enormous flexibility to spend your tax dollars only on the programs he likes, and only in the states he wants to.”

The vote exposed a public rift with Democrats in the House, where all but one Democrat voted against the government funding bill. Up until the time of the vote on Friday evening, House Democrats were urging their Senate counterparts to block the bill they fear would embolden Trump and Musk’s overhaul of the US government.

Before the procedural vote on Friday, the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi called the bill a “devastating assault on the wellbeing of working-class families”.

“Democratic senators should listen to the women,” she said in a statement. “Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement. America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also condemned Schumer for caving to Republican demands on a government funding bill, saying the move had created a “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” among Democrats.

Speaking to reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats were gathered for their annual policy retreat, Ocasio-Cortez said she had mobilized Democratic supporters to push Schumer to oppose what she characterized as an “acquiesce” to the GOP bill.

“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,” she said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think, is a huge slap in the face.”

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Friday’s vote reportedly sparked such anger among House Democrats that some encouraged the New York congresswoman to challenge Schumer for his Senate seat, according to CNN. When asked about these suggestions, Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment.

From the Senate floor, Schumer reiterated his support for the spending bill, warning that a government shutdown would mean that Trump, Musk and Doge would be free to make even more disruptive cuts to federal agencies.

“A shutdown will allow Doge to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said. “It would give Donald Trump and Doge the keys to the city, state and country. Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate than they can right now and over a much broader field of destruction that they would render.”

But the Federal Unionists Network, a group of federal employees that opposes the administration’s campaign to dramatically downsize government, disagreed, saying the funding bill under consideration would make the situation worse.

“Once again, Congress is failing in its responsibility to the American people,” spokesperson Chris Dols said in a statement. “If passed, this CR will give Trump and Musk the power to complete their assault on federal workers.”

Earlier this week, Schumer threatened to withhold the Democratic votes and demanded Republicans instead consider a 30-day funding stopgap that would allow more time for bipartisan negotiations.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson sent his members home to their districts after Republicans advanced the spending bill on Tuesday, effectively forcing Senate Democrats to accept the measure as passed or risk a shutdown. In a statement on Friday, Johnson applauded his caucus for sticking together and accused Democrats of nearly triggering a shutdown “simply because they seem to hate President Trump more than they love America”.

Democrats will now have to contend with a furious base.

“Clearing the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is unacceptable,” Joel Payne, a spokesperson for MoveOn, a progressive organization that claims nearly 10 million members nationwide, said in a statement.

“It’s past time for Democrats to fight and stop acting like it’s business as usual.”

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