Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he intends to vote to advance a Republican-drafted stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government operating through the rest of fiscal 2025.
Unless a continuing resolution was approved Friday, the government would partially shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. A vote was expected Friday after the Exchange Monitor deadline.
In a statement on the Senate floor and posts on the X social media platform, Schumer said the bill that would fund the government until Sept. 30, is preferable to a government shutdown. A shutdown, the senior Democrat said, would give President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk an even free hand to slash government programs.
“If we enter a shutdown, Congressional Republicans would weaponize their majorities to cherry-pick which parts of government to reopen,” Schumer said on X. “A shutdown would give Donald Trump and Elon Musk carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.
The Schumer announcement did not go over well with some members of his own party. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted the move.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee said they opposed the Senate stopgap funding bill, saying it would give Trump and Musk too much power.
Nevertheless, with Schumer planning to vote in favor, it is increasingly possible that enough of the Democrats will follow him to push the measure over 60 votes and avoid a shutdown.
