On Wednesday afternoon, after Senate Democrats met to discuss a looming potential government shutdown for Friday if a bill is not passed in time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) revealed that his party is prepared to shut down the government. On Tuesday night, the House voted mostly along party lines to pass a continuing resolution (CR), with all Republicans but one–Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky–unifying behind the bill. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine also voted for it.
Especially with one of their own, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) indicating he’s opposed to the CR, Republicans needed that many more Democrats to cross the aisle in order to break the filibuster. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has reportedly indicated he’d vote in favor of the CR, and has also already posted to his X account that he would not shut down the government, but seven more Democrat votes would still be needed.
“Republicans do not have the votes to invoke cloture (on their CR),” Schumer revealed, pointing to how his caucus is supposedly “unified.” The Democratic unity supposedly has to do with a one-month CR that Democrats have drafted, which is not what has passed the House. That bill, which passed, funds the government until September.
Further, as Schumer speaks about bipartisanship, something he himself didn’t necessarily care for when his party was in power, and even tried to nuke the filibuster, he leaves out that Golden voted for the CR in the House.
As Golden revealed over X when explaining his vote, he doesn’t find the CR to be perfect, but finds it preferable to shutting down the government. The rest of his thread went on to mention what he does agree with when it comes to what’s in this CR.
With such a declaration, Schumer appears to be in line with some of the most radical voices in the House, with CNN’s Manu Raju speaking to them earlier at the Capitol.
🚨 #BREAKING: Chuck Schumer has announced Democrats will be BLOCKING the CR bill from passing, which will likely result in a government shutdown in just days
SCHUMER SHUTDOWN! pic.twitter.com/uS4DX7vgtc
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 12, 2025
