Democrats join with Republicans to advance House-passed government spending bill

Senate Democrats joined Republicans Friday on a key procedural vote to advance a bill that would ultimately avert a government shutdown at midnight, despite intensifying pressure from across the Democratic Party to block the GOP’s funding measure.

Senate Democrats joined Republicans Friday on a key procedural vote to advance a bill that would ultimately avert a government shutdown at midnight, despite intensifying pressure from across the Democratic Party to block the GOP’s funding measure. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nine others voted to advance the House-passed spending bill to a final vote, with President Donald Trump himself praising Schumer for the move. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against advancing the measure that would fund the government through September 30. Outside of Schumer’s leadership team, many Senate Democrats as well as House Democrats are seething at the move, which they see as a capitulation in the party’s first real leverage point in Trump’s second term. The Senate Democratic leader has argued his party had only bad options when it came to shutting down the government – possibly for months – to challenge Trump, or accepting a GOP bill that Democrats have warned would cut spending to programs like veterans’ health care or Washington, DC, firefighters and police. “I believe it is the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people,” Schumer argued in defense of his decision during remarks on the Senate floor. “Clearly, this is a Hobson’s choice. The CR is a bad bill, but as bad as the CR is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.” Republicans and Democrats must now negotiate a time agreement to vote on final passage of the package before the midnight deadline, all while Schumer and his leadership continue to face intense anger from the Democratic base.