Senate Democrats Expected to Help Advance GOP Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown

WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats on March 14 are expected to help Republicans pass a House-approved bill to keep the government open, hours before a shutdown is set to begin.

After speculation about its fate in the upper chamber, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that he would reluctantly support invoking cloture on the legislation.

“I will vote to keep the government open and not shut down the government,” he said during a March 13 speech on the Senate floor.

The stopgap funding legislation, passed by the House on March 11 in a 217–213 vote, extends the government funding deadline from March 14 to 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.

The Senate is due to vote on cloture for the bill this afternoon. If successful, the legislation will proceed to a final Senate vote.

The legislation narrowly passed the lower chamber. The vote was mostly along party lines except for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted against it, and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who broke with his party to back it.

That immediately raised questions about its prospects in the Senate, where, like most legislation, the package would need to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold which requires bipartisan backing.

President Donald Trump has strongly backed the bill, saying any shutdown would be blamed on the opposing party.

“If there’s a shutdown, it’s only because of the Democrats, and they would really be taking away a lot from our country and from the people of our country,” Trump said from the Oval Office on March 13.

Senate Republicans

Most Senate Republicans are expected to vote for the package without much objection, including some swing-voting members. A handful haven’t committed.

In a statement, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)—who is facing a 2026 reelection bid in her blue-leaning New England state—announced that she would support the bill. “Our focus must be on preventing an unnecessary and costly government shutdown,” she said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who often breaks against her party on key issues and votes, said she was not a fan of the bill, or of shutting down the government.

“It is a choice between two untenable positions,” she told reporters. “Both of those positions are untenable.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) didn’t say how he would vote but indicated that he’s not enthusiastic about the package in its current state. He said the bill is essentially identical to the one passed by the Senate in December, which he opposed.

Paul said he plans to add an amendment to the bill to begin implementing some of the cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Amendments would require another vote by the House and are unlikely to succeed.

‘Lose-Lose Situation’

Before Schumer’s floor speech, many Senate Democrats said they were prepared to tank the legislation during the procedural vote.

The lawmakers instead wanted a stopgap 30-day continuing resolution—Congress’ term for stopgap spending bills—to allow them to negotiate. Democrats are expected to propose an amendment to this effect, which is likely to fail.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), often perceived as one of the upper chamber’s more moderate Democrats, said the GOP six-month spending bill was partisan and said that he would vote against cloture to “force a real negotiation.”

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) called the bill a power grab, saying that Republicans were seeking to “slash and burn government services.” She said in a post on social media platform X that she was a “firm no” on the bill.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said in a video posted on X that the bill is a “surrendering of the powers of Congress.”

Some more senior Senate Democrats were hesitant to commit to any course. The party has long sought to portray itself as opposed to government shutdowns or using the process for political leverage.

When asked by The Epoch Times whether the bill or a shutdown is worse from their perspective, Senate Minority Whip Durbin (D-Ill.) said, “Both [are] bad.”

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) described it as a lose-lose situation.

Schumer described the party as facing a Hobson’s choice, a choice that appears to offer two options but offers only one. He said that a government shutdown would give Trump more power to make cuts to the government, as the executive branch has broad authority over what constitutes an essential employee during a shutdown.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was already planning to back the bill, describing Democrats’ 30-day alternative plan as total theater.

While Schumer’s reversal puts many in his party in a difficult position, the bill is ultimately likely to pass with his backing.