The Senate will take a key procedural vote on Friday afternoon to potentially tee up final passage of a crucial stopgap government spending bill to avoid a shutdown as time runs out.
After tense caucus meetings, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed that he would vote for the House-passed short-term spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), because ‘a shutdown would be a gift’ for President Donald Trump and Republicans.
The Friday cloture vote was scheduled shortly after his Thursday evening announcement. It will take place shortly after 1:15 p.m. ET.
In order to move forward to a final passage vote, the stopgap bill will need 60 favorable votes to beat what’s known as the legislative filibuster.
During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services would be halted. However, government functions deemed ‘essential’ would continue. National security protocols, such as border patrol, law enforcement and disaster response, stay active during shutdowns, for example.
House Republicans managed to pass a CR earlier in the week that would keep spending levels the same as fiscal year (FY) 2024 until Oct. 1. But if a spending bill is not passed by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, the government will enter into a partial shutdown.
While some Senate Democrats, such as Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., have committed to supporting the CR, far more of their colleagues have publicly stated that they will oppose it.
‘The House bill also irresponsibly fails to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump Administration,’ Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said in a late Thursday statement.
‘I will oppose the House budget proposal. The best available solution is a 30-day stopgap funding measure to avoid a shutdown, during which time Congress can do its job to properly pass a bipartisan budget,’ he said.
Democrats had pushed for a month-long CR, but Republicans didn’t budge from the House-passed plan.
Before Schumer revealed his intention to support the bill while the rest of his caucus made their own decisions, meetings between the Democrats became so contentious that the press could hear a senator yelling, through thick, heavy wooden doors on Thursday. The voice was identified as that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., by press, but her office would not confirm.
Earlier Thursday, Fetterman slammed his colleagues for pledging to vote against the short-term bill, joking that their video announcements were ‘spicy.’
‘It wasn’t that long ago before we were lecturing that you can never shut the government down. So, that’s kind of inconsistent,’ he told reporters.
‘We can all agree that it’s not a great CR, but that’s where we are, and that’s the choice,’ Fetterman explained.
If the procedural vote on Friday garners enough votes to beat the legislative filibuster, a vote on final passage will be planned for within the next day and a half. It could come sooner if parties reach a time agreement.