Senate Approves Funding Bill, Avoids Government Shutdown
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed stopgap legislation Friday to keep the federal government funded through Sept. 30 and to avoid a shutdown that would have further damaged a precarious U.S. economy.
The legislation includes $7 billion in funding cuts that Democrats said will fall most harshly on underprivileged persons who need it the most.
It cuts $13 billion in non-defense spending compared with the 2024 budget but increases defense spending by $6 billion. It would force about $1 billion in funding cuts on the District of Columbia.
Sixty votes were needed to pass the procedural issue leading to a final vote later Friday. The procedural vote passed by a 62-38 majority. The final vote needed only a simple majority.
Without the approval, a government shutdown was scheduled to begin at midnight.
The vote won support from a few Democrats who originally opposed it.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Democrats were faced with a “Hobson’s choice” of taking what is available or nothing at all.
“A shutdown would allow [the Department of Government Efficiency] to shift into overdrive,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Friday morning.
He was referring to the risk that voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown that further hurt the economy, thereby empowering President Donald Trump with more popular support for drastic government budget cuts and layoffs.
Schumer voted for the funding bill but also alienated members of his own party. Some of them called for him to be replaced.
They said a shutdown could have forced Republicans to negotiate concessions with less drastic cuts.
“We do not want to shut down the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Republicans said the funding cuts would continue savings being led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency as they seek to reduce a $36 trillion budget deficit. Musk has said the U.S. government is in danger of bankruptcy without dramatic reforms.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the U.S. federal government spending this year will be about $1.6 trillion, which includes $893 billion for defense and $708 billion for non-defense.
Trump praised Schumer for advocating in favor of the budget resolution during a speech Friday at the Justice Department.
“I have great respect, by the way, for what Schumer did,” Trump said. “He went out and he said that they have to vote with the Republicans because it’s the right thing to do.”
The House version of the funding bill passed this week with similar controversy among Democrats who saw no alternative to avoiding a government shutdown.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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