WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are stonewalling a Republican-led spending bill that would keep the government funded through the end of September, raising the stakes for a government shutdown later this week.

The government is scheduled to enter a shutdown after 11:59 p.m. on Friday, effectively freezing federal funding until some sort of deal is passed. With their newfound majority in both the House and Senate, Republicans are looking to strong-arm their own proposal at the behest of Democrats — putting the minority party in a tricky position as they weigh two options they consider politically lethal.

The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday to extend current government funding levels to Sept. 30, Shortly after that passed, the House adjourned for recess — placing the fate of a government shutdown in the Senate’s hands.

Now Senate Democrats face a dilemma: Shut down the government or agree to a spending deal that would allow President Donald Trump to continue advancing policies they disagree with.

Senate Democrats seek to stymie Republican spending plan

Despite holding control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans still have a math problem in the Senate. To overcome a filibuster, 60 senators must vote to file cloture on a piece of legislation — meaning at least seven Democrats would need to cross party lines to advance the measure.

In this case, Republicans need at least eight Democrats after Republican Sen. Rand Paul came out in opposition to the current CR proposal.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is inclined to vote for the CR so long as it remains free of any provisions seeking to restrict the Trump administration. It’s not yet clear how Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, will vote, and he has not yet issued a public response.

And so far, Democratic leadership is refusing to provide the votes.

“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,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR.”

Instead, Democrats are demanding a vote on a 30-day funding extension that would allow appropriators to finalize the congressional budget through regular order.

The most likely way to do that is through the amendment process. By doing that, Democrats can agree to end the filibuster in exchange for a vote on an amendment to implement a short-term CR that would extend the funding deadline to April 11.

Senate Democrats discussed such a strategy during their closed-door lunch on Wednesday afternoon, with several senators emerging from that meeting declaring that proposal as a redline for their support.

“Senate appropriators are really close to a deal, and it would be far preferable to a CR,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters after the meeting.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, and Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., confer as the Senate Budget Committee works on the markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. | J. Scott Applewhite

By doing so, Democrats would have the political cover to end the filibuster and vote for an alternate plan. Then, even if the amendment fails, all Democrats can vote against the CR itself and it would still pass with only Republican support and a shutdown would be avoided.

However, it’s not clear if Senate Republican leaders are willing to bite. It only requires a simple majority to pass an amendment, meaning Democrats would need only four Republicans to support their measure to upend the process.

And some Democrats have indicated the support is there.

“We have reason to believe that some Republicans would like that better than a CR,” Kaine said.

Clock ticks toward shutdown — putting Democrats in a bind

Even if Democrats did manage to get a vote on their amendment and it passed, it likely would not give enough time to avoid a shutdown over the weekend.

Shortly after the House passed its CR on Tuesday, the chamber adjourned for recess and is not slated to return until March 24. And it’s unlikely House Republican leaders will feel obligated to return early to pass a Democratic-led alternative to their funding bill.

And Republicans have no problem placing the blame for a shutdown on Democrats.

“Every House Democrat but one voted to shut down the government yesterday,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a post on X. “Chuck Schumer needs to decide: will Senate Democrats keep the government funded or will they join House Democrats and shut it down?”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives to talk to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans to find agreement on a spending bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. | J. Scott Applewhite

At least one Democratic senator said he would vote for the CR, arguing a shutdown would be more harmful to government workers than DOGE’s slashing of the federal workforce.

“I can’t vote for shutting the government down,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., told reporters on Wednesday. “If we vote to close it, to claim that (it would) protect the government, that’s … like burning down the village to save it.”

A handful of other Senate Democrats have said they are still weighing their decision, raising concerns that a shutdown could hand more authority to Trump.

“That’s one of the things we have to consider. We’re dealing with people, many of whom, I suspect, think a shutdown would be a good thing, and they could prolong it and use it to expand the president’s power even beyond what they’re already considering,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who said he is undecided. “So that’s something that has to be considered. This isn’t normal.”

Meanwhile, it doesn’t appear that Republicans are in any hurry to cut a deal with Democrats to avoid a shutdown.

Instead, Senate GOP leaders are calling on Democrats to help advance the CR — or else the fault of a shutdown falls squarely on their shoulders.

“We’re going to have to see what the Democrats in the Senate decide. It sounds like they’re fairly divided about what they want to do,” said Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, R-Wy. “It costs money to shut down the government. It costs money to open the government. And it denies the American people services and those that are forced to work have to work without pay. If Democrats choose to shut down the government, they’re going to own it, lock, stock, and barrel.”