WASHINGTON – It’s a bad week to be a Senate Democrat.
With less than 48 hours until a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his party’s members are being forced to choose between two options they despise: Accept a federal funding extension that empowers President Donald Trump, or risk being blamed for shutting down the government and losing further control over spending cuts while the American economy is teetering toward a recession.
Earlier this week, Republicans in the House advanced a six-and-a-half month government funding extension that freezes spending at current levels but reallocates it to Trump‘s priorities, such as border security and defense, and gives the administration more leeway to make spending decisions.
Then the House left town for a 10-day recess, ensuring any changes would bring logistical headaches if enough of Schumer’s Democrats don’t give their support before the end of the day Friday, when federal government agencies would need to begin furloughing staff and winding down to only essential operations.
“It’s time for Democrats to fish or cut bait,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor Thursday morning. “Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House or if they’re going to shut down the government. So far, it looks like they plan to shut it down.”
Republicans control the Senate 53-47 but need Democratic help to get the spending bill across the finish line. Eight Democrats would have to join with their GOP colleagues to overcome the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold, as Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has already said he’ll vote against it.
Democrats are livid at the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn changes to the federal government, and they’re under intense pressure from their constituents to fight back. But they also fear the consequences of shutting down the government, both real and political.
More: When will the Senate vote on the spending bill? Will it need Democratic support?
“If we vote to shut it down, that’s going to be the Democrats, we’re going to own that,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told USA TODAY on Wednesday. He’s the only Democrat so far publicly to say he would vote on the GOP funding extension, adding: “I refuse to participate in a vote that shuts our government down.”
The blame game heats up
A shut down would force a majority of federal workers to stop working and temporarily go without pay. Services deemed essential – such as border protection, air traffic control and power grid maintenance as well as payments for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – would continue.
Other services would be interrupted. National parks would close, environmental and food inspections would stop, researchers at the National Institutes of Health would not be able to admit new patients, and Internal Revenue Service tax help may be interrupted, among other effects.
A government shutdown would also add to an already chaotic federal government, as Trump and advisor Elon Musk have laid off more than 100,000 federal workers and consolidated federal agencies without Congress’ approval.
Which party would be blamed for a shutdown – especially with the 2026 midterm elections well more than a year away – makes it anyone’s guess whether this moment in the winter of 2025 will be remembered when many other headline-grabbing events are likely to distract from current voter frustration.
Democrats have argued that Republicans would be responsible if there is a shutdown because the GOP didn’t broker a bipartisan agreement on the funding extension – known as a continuing resolution – when they knew they would need Democratic votes in the Senate .
“This CR would create a lot of pain for the people in Georgia. It’s bad for farmers, it’s bad for folks on Medicaid, it’s bad for working people. A shutdown would be bad also,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. “Either way, they own this.”
Adding to the Democrats’ predicament, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said earlier this week that he’s worried Musk would have even more control over what would eventually be reopened if the government does shut down on Trump’s watch.
More: How Trump and Musk have sought greater control over federal employees
Searching for a political off-ramp, Democrats on Wednesday sought to reframe the looming shutdown by proposing a third option for a full vote: Extend government funding for just four weeks, buying time for lawmakers to put together a bipartisan plan.
“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input from Congressional Democrats,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. We should vote on that. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.”
More: Trump’s mass federal workforce cuts: What has happened so far
There’s no hint Republicans are taking that proposal seriously. But Republican leadership could offer a vote on Democrats’ proposal, giving them the option to tell their supporters they tried, assuming it would fail and some Democrats would then support the full-year extension.
If they do that, Senate Democrats would likely face pushback from their left. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on X Thursday that there is “nothing clever” about putting up a 30-day extension they know will fail before voting to advance the GOP bill.
“Those games won’t fool anyone,” she wrote. “It won’t trick voters, it won’t trick House members. People will never forget it.”
