Shutdown Averted

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on March 11, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Yesterday, the Senate approved a House-passed bill to extend government funding by six months, hours before the shutdown deadline.

After days of speculation about its ultimate fate in the upper chamber, the Senate agreed to final passage of the bill in a 54–46 vote on Friday evening. The legislation now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who’s expected to sign it.

Though a handful of Democrats voted to advance the bill earlier that day, only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Vt.) supported final passage. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican to oppose the package, citing budget concerns.

The legislation passed the House on March 11 in a 217–213 vote and extends government funding through Sept. 30, the final day of the fiscal year.

It increases defense spending by about $6 billion while cutting non-defense spending by $13 billion compared to last year’s levels. Overall, the measure reduces spending by about $7 billion from the previous year.

Four proposed amendments to the package—including one to reduce its duration to 30 days and another from Paul to implement certain recommendations made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—were defeated ahead of the bill’s final passage in the Senate.

In an earlier procedural vote, 11 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the measure: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Gary Peters (D-Mich), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Shaheen, and King.

The bill’s advancement was due in large part to Schumer’s announcement on Thursday that he would vote to avert a shutdown, describing it as the best of multiple bad options. The minority leader previously said that Senate Democrats wouldn’t support the bill and thus the Republicans wouldn’t have enough votes to pass it.

Trump congratulated Schumer for “doing the right thing,” adding that the latter’s final decision took “'guts’ and courage.”

“A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning, calling it a “really good and smart move by Senator Schumer.”

The Senate also passed by a voice vote a bipartisan bill related to funding for Washington that reverses an approximately $1.1 billion cut to the city’s budget included in the stopgap spending bill.

For Democrats, the fight over the bill could have implications stretching beyond the current dispute—particularly for Schumer, who is facing criticisms from the progressive base and some House Democrats.

Speaking minutes ahead of the cloture vote on March 14, Schumer reiterated his position that the stopgap “is a bad bill. But as bad as [it] is, I believe that allowing Donald Trump to take more power is worse.”

Schumer said that a shutdown would enable Trump and Elon Musk to unilaterally implement many of the personnel and funding cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This would be a result of the heightened authorities the president has during a shutdown to determine which employees and services are essential, Schumer said.

The Musk-led DOGE was ordered by Trump to audit federal agencies to reduce government spending.

Those comments came after Schumer had already faced a great deal of pressure from House Democrats.

Twenty-one Democrats signed on to a letter led by House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) urging Schumer to oppose the bill following his March 13 remarks.

“We urge all Senate Democrats to stand with House Democrats and with the American people, reject this [funding bill], and force House and Senate Republicans back to the negotiating table,” the letter read.

Top-ranking Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have also been hesitant to rubber-stamp the move.

During a press conference on Friday, Jeffries dismissed questions about whether he has confidence in Schumer.

Pelosi also rejected Schumer’s plan in favor of an alternative 30-day funding bill put forward by DeLauro and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

“Democratic senators should listen to the women,” Pelosi said in a Friday statement, saying that DeLauro and Murray “have eloquently presented the case that we must  … keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement.”

“We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People,” she added.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a progressive Democrat seen as a potential Senate contender one day, has criticized her state’s senior senator.

She called the move “a huge slap in the face,” describing “a wide sense of betrayal” within the party.