Senate Democrats are staring down a major dilemma as they agonize over how to handle the GOP’s stopgap spending bill in the face of a potential government shutdown by the end of the week.
Democrats head toward the Friday deadline trying to reckon with a problem few in the conference fully know how to wrap their arms around: a no-win situation, with every avenue available being equally thorny.
They held a second lengthy party luncheon in as many days on Wednesday in search of consensus on the best way out of the morass; they emerged with a plan to insist on a vote on a 30-day continuing resolution (CR) before they would consider voting for Republicans’ six-month plan.
The 30-day CR, however, is almost certainly not viable. And while Senate Democrats said Wednesday they won’t vote to advance Republicans’ bill, pressure on them will only increase.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent the House home after the chamber passed the GOP six-month CR mostly along party lines on Tuesday. The House isn’t slated to be back until March 24, leaving Senate Democrats few options beyond eating the GOP’s stopgap measure or allowing the government to shut down.
Neither is palatable to them.
“They’re both horrible outcomes,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said ahead of Wednesday’s luncheon. “I went to sleep last night. I stayed up late and really thought about it. Had one decision in mind. Woke up and realized, ‘No, I don’t. That’s not the right [decision].'”
“It’s just hard,” he continued. “This is the most frustrating issue that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Democrats are contending with competing concerns on several fronts.
On the legislative side, the party believes the Republican-led CR, which largely funds the government through the end of September at levels set under the Biden administration, only gives President Trump and Elon Musk further control over a government workforce they have sought to slash since coming into office.
And while Republicans cast their bill as a “clean” CR, Democrats note that it includes $13 billion in cuts to nondefense spending that Democrats warn will impact federal housing, nutrition and health care programs, among others.
However, Democrats are also acutely aware of the optics of forcing a government shutdown, which would make them party to more than 2 million government workers being furloughed without pay.
They would also likely receive at least some of the blame for a shutdown, potentially putting Senate Democrats — especially those in swing states — in political peril.
“There’s no easy call,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who announced later on Wednesday that he opposes the House bill.
What also spooks members is the unknown of what comes after a shutdown starts. Trump is well known for being unpredictable, and how he handles a shutdown is giving Democrats heartburn.
A shutdown would put the Office of Management and Budget in charge of determining what personnel are considered essential and nonessential during its course. Senate Republicans could also hypothetically force vote after vote to reopen the government, giving them further headaches in the process.
“It’s the devil that we know against the devil that we don’t know,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said.
House Democrats, meanwhile, are taking the unusual step of heavily pressuring their Senate colleagues to hold firm against the GOP plan. Only a single Democrat voted for the measure in the House after Democratic leadership actively urged their members to vote “no.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday House Democrats have been in talks with Senate Democrats ahead of the vote in the upper chamber.
“Our ongoing conversations with Senate Democrats, from the leadership all the way through the members of the Senate that we regularly work with, are continuing,” Jeffries said. “The House Democratic position is crystal clear as evidenced by the strong vote of opposition that we took yesterday on the House floor opposing the Trump-Musk-Johnson reckless Republican spending bill.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) broke his nearly 24-hour silence on the spending situation after the lengthy conference meeting Wednesday, saying on the floor that his members are “unified” behind the month-long measure and against the current GOP plan.
Top appropriators on both sides of the aisle had also been discussing the idea of this bill last week, but Republicans abandoned that idea once the full-year option gained steam.
“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR,” Schumer said.
“Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that,” he continued. “I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.”
Despite the remarks there is a possibility that the chamber will be able to unlock a deal by the end of the week.
Some Democrats floated the idea that an amendment vote on the 30-day CR, which would fail, could be won in exchange for the requisite number of votes to advance the GOP bill. Some Republicans could support it, according to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), but not enough that it would be adopted.
It remains unclear whether Republicans would go along with that though. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) did not fully shoot down the idea.
“I think there would have to be some understanding,” he told The Hill on Wednesday evening. “We’ll see. I’m not sure exactly what their demand is — if they just need a vote on that, and if in exchange for that they’ll give us the votes to fund the government.”
Thune added that discussions are “going on right now” on a path forward, but he also panned the idea of a full shift to a 30-day CR in order to finish 2025 appropriations bills
“The House is gone,” he said. “I don’t know how you would now affect that.”
Eight Democrats are needed to back the year-long CR. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is the lone member of the conference to indicate support for it.
If others don’t follow, Republicans have made clear they will make this painful for the minority party.
“If Democrats choose to shut down the government, they’re going to own it lock, stock and barrel,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said.
