The Schumer Shutdown

The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to pass a six-month funding bill that would prevent a government shutdown at the end of the week. The vote was 217-213, with all Republicans but Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, supporting the legislation. One Democrat, Jared Golden, of Maine, voted for it. The CR that Republicans passed through the House largely keeps government funding levels steady, with a slight $6 billion boost to defense and a roughly $10 billion increase to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding.

The measure now heads to the Senate where Republicans control 53 seats.  But Chuck Schumer just announced that Senate Democrats will BLOCK the House-passed CR. Democrats think they can inflict suffering on the American people and still blame the Republicans for it.

The law of unintended consequences will win the day. As it always does. We will see the government run with only “essential workers.” Then we can fire everyone else. By shutting it down, they can show just how useless most agencies are.

Chuck Schumer just announced that Senate Democrats will BLOCK the House-passed CR.

And now, for your entertainment… may we present:

THE SAME DEMOCRATS who scream about a GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN on loop. Grab your popcorn! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/FmferDoQ2y

— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) March 12, 2025

(2019_
"We told the president we needed the government open. He resisted. In fact, he said he'd keep the government closed for a very long period of time." pic.twitter.com/uRgbikxnMI

— Donna Marie (@sabback) March 12, 2025

Government shutdown likely after Schumer says Senate Dems will block GOP funding bill

By Ryan King and Josh Christenson, NY Post, March 12, 2025:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that most Democrats in the upper chamber will not support a House Republican-passed bill to fund the federal government through the end of September, all but ensuring a partial shutdown beginning at 11:59 p.m. Friday.

“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their [continuing resolution] without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,” Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

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“Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean [CR through April 11] that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass.”
Schumer said Senate Democrats will not support a House Republican-passed bill to fund the federal government. AP

With Republicans holding a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and legislation needing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, at least seven Democrats would need to support the spending bill, which passed the House 217-213 Tuesday night.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has also opposed the measure, so the GOP will need eight Democratic defections if there is full attendance in the chamber.

Following Tuesday night’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the lower chamber of Congress would recess until March 24, leaving Schumer with the option of accepting the House bill and keeping the federal lights on over the objection of progressive activists, or rejecting it and putting the nation’s capital on course for the 11th partial government shutdown since 1980.

In a statement after the lower chamber passed the funding bill, Johnson said it was “decision time for Senate Democrats: cast a vote to keep the government open or be responsible for shutting it down.”

“In a shameful display of coordinated political theater, Democrats are willing to run out the clock on funding the government in a failed attempt to block the America First agenda,” the House speaker said. “Now it’s decision time for Senate Democrats: cast a vote to keep the government open or be responsible for shutting it down.”

Before Schumer’s announcement, the only Senate Democrat to openly back the House GOP continuing resolution was Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), while Sens. Jon Ossof (D-Ga.), Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) had signaled openness to supporting the bill.

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Liberal activists had pointed out that the current spending fight was the last big chance for Democrats to extract concessions from Republicans until this fall, when the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process begins.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking at a press conference, pointing at a podium in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC 5
Schumer accused Republicans of choosing a “partisan path” with the continuing resolution. Getty Images

“Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave,” far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) fretted Wednesday on X. “TODAY is the showdown.”

Before the Senate convened for Wednesday business, Democrats huddled during a cacus lunch to plot the next steps forward.

“At least for now, I don’t see the votes, based on my reading of the end of the meeting,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters afterwards. “I don’t see the votes there right now for passing their House Republican CR.”
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly speaking to the media at the U.S. Capitol to discuss options to avoid government shutdown 5
Sen. Mark Kelly is one of several Senate Democrats open to supporting the CR. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

“I’ve gone back and forth on this thing three times because it is two horrible choices,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) admitted to reporters before the lunch.

“If you shut down the government, the president is the person who decides what is essential,” Hickenlooper explained. “He decides what part of the government stays open, so you are actually giving him even more power.”

On the other side of the argument, a senior Senate Democratic aide told The Post that some members “worry a shutdown leaves Elon Musk alone in the candy store,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts.

“It wouldn’t be your grandfather’s shutdown,” this source added, following Musk’s aggressive actions to reduce the federal workforce and trim billions of dollars in purportedly wasteful spending programs.
U.S. President Donald Trump gesturing while House Speaker Mike Johnson looks on, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building after a Friends of Ireland luncheon. 5
Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the House will recess until March 24 to give Schumer and the Democrats the option to accept the CR. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Many Democrats on Capitol Hill had privately hoped House Republicans would fail to pass their resolution Tuesday night and be left in a position to take the political fall.

“Every hour that passes only puts them on an island where it’s obvious they have no plan — and the headlines are, ‘Will Democrats shut down the government?’” said one senior Senate Republican aide.

Another GOP adviser contended that if the CR fails to clear the Senate by late Friday, “this will be a Dem-engineered shutdown.”
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump discussing in front of Tesla vehicles at the White House, March 11, 2025