With just three weeks to go before the federal government runs out of money, Senate Republicans have taken steps toward a rule change that would at least allow them to navigate around Democratic roadblocks and push through a number of stalled federal nominations.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), as <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/house/gop-need-shutdown-plan/">reported</a> by Punchbowl News, kick-started the process on Monday that would allow for an unlimited number of federal nominations to be approved “en bloc” — simultaneously — so long as they were not judicial or cabinet-level positions.
The outlet’s Andrew Desiderio explained on Monday, “Thune will file a resolution tonight that’ll include dozens of bipartisan noms awaiting confirmation. He’ll file cloture tomorrow, setting up Thurs vote at 60-vote threshold which will fail, at which point R’s will vote to overrule the chair. Vote on the res next Monday &#8230; Once the resolution is passed, Thune will file cloture on the bloc of nominees, setting up the first vote for next Wednesday. That’ll be the first time R’s will use the new rules to confirm a huge batch of Trump nominees simultaneously.”
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Once the resolution is passed, Thune will file cloture on the bloc of nominees, setting up the first vote for next Wednesday. That’ll be the first time R’s will use the new rules to confirm a huge batch of Trump nominees simultaneously.
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1965146114929414512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Desiderio then shared the list of 48 nominees named in Thune’s resolution — which included eleven War Department positions, five ambassadorships, and a host of other positions across multiple departments — and noted that all of them had already passed with bipartisan support in their respective committees.
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Here are the 48 (!) nominees listed in Thune’s resolution. Includes Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was nominated for U.S. ambassador to Greece
All of these were approved w/ bipartisan support in committee <a href="https://t.co/pVu7XPwn1d">https://t.co/pVu7XPwn1d</a> <a href="https://t.co/tbN3oBiIVg">pic.twitter.com/tbN3oBiIVg</a>
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1965205928271376659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Thune called out the Democrats for stonewalling President Donald Trump’s nominees from the Senate floor on Monday before filing the resolution, arguing that as former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had previously said, nominees should only be held up or blocked for “legitimate” purposes.
Noting that Democrats were supporting the nominees in committee and on the final votes, they were intentionally stalling the process by refusing to allow the nominees to be confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent, as is traditionally done with civilian nominees.
WATCH:
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Democrats have destroyed Senate precedent, and we’re going to fix it.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenateGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenateGOP</a> will ensure that in the future, duly elected presidents are able to get their teams in places without unnecessary delay so that they can fulfill their responsibilities to the American people. <a href="https://t.co/wYw7l2XNjd">pic.twitter.com/wYw7l2XNjd</a>
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1965140905100513469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Republican Lawmakers Work To Pass Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” On Capitol Hill

Senate Republicans Implement Plan To Push Through Federal Nominees As Shutdown Looms

Senate Republicans Implement Plan To Push Federal Nominees As Shutdown Looms

Congress

Donald Trump

Government Shutdown

John Thune

Politics

Senate Republicans

U.S. Senate

Fresh off the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-house-delivers-trumps-9b-cut-to-global-aid-and-public-broadcasting-gets-final-approval" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passage</a> of a $9 billion rescissions package and other legislative victories during the first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/six-months-in-trump-celebrates-revival-of-hottest-country-in-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">six months</a> of President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) says Republicans are &#8220;anxiously&#8221; waiting to see whether Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats will eschew bipartisanship and push the government toward a shutdown at the beginning of October.
During an interview on Fox News, Thune spoke to &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; host Maria Bartiromo about the dozen 2026 fiscal year appropriations bills which lawmakers on Capitol Hill are putting together ahead of a September 30 deadline.
&#8220;We have got a couple, three or four of them now reported out of the Appropriations Committee. We&#8217;re going to try and get one up on the floor next week. And I hope we will find that the Democrats want to work with us,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;They haven&#8217;t demonstrated much of a willingness on anything so far. I mean, they are making it extremely difficult to get any of the president&#8217;s nominees through the process here. It&#8217;s obstruct, it&#8217;s delay, it&#8217;s block. That&#8217;s been the pattern. And it&#8217;s Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display here in the United States Senate.&#8221;
Schumer <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/leader-schumer-floor-remarks-on-republicans-ruthless-rescissions-package-that-would-undermine-bipartisanship-and-gut-critical-programs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> earlier this month that Democrats would not be willing to cooperate if the GOP-led House and Senate chose to claw back $9 billion in funds allocated to foreign aid and public broadcasting for programs that Republicans deemed to be wasteful and idealogical driven.
&#8220;If Republicans cave to Donald Trump and gut these investments agreed to by both parties, that would be an affront — a huge affront — to the bipartisan appropriations process,&#8221; Schumer said on the Senate floor. &#8220;It is absurd to expect Democrats to play along with funding the government if Republicans are just going to renege on a bipartisan agreement by concocting rescissions packages behind closed doors that can pass with only their votes, not the customary 60 votes required in the appropriation process.&#8221;
Both the rescissions package and the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill,&#8221; which contained many of Trump&#8217;s spending and tax cut priorities, passed through Congress via processes that allowed the Senate to bypass the filibuster. However, other measures to come may not be able to avoid the hurdle.
When Bartiromo asked Thune if he believes Schumer would like to see a government shutdown in the coming weeks, the majority leader did not dismiss the idea.
&#8220;I think he probably thinks that it&#8217;s beneficial to their political base, the far left of the Democrat Party, and you see it on — you can kind of see what&#8217;s happening up there in New York politics,&#8221; Thune replied, alluding to socialist Zohran Mamdani winning the primary in the race for New York City major.
&#8220;This is a party struggling for an identity. This is a party that&#8217;s completely out of step with the mainstream of this country. And I think, frankly, although it&#8217;s not going to be in their interest in the long term to do it, we&#8217;re going to be waiting to see anxiously what Chuck Schumer and other leaders on the Democrat side decide to do,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Because, ultimately, keeping the government funded is good for the country, and hopefully we will have bipartisan cooperation to do that. But if their recent track record is any indication, they&#8217;re under a tremendous amount of pressure from that far left wing of the Democrat Party to shut the government down.&#8221;
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

Thune Warns Schumer May Cave To Far Left, Push For Govt Shutdown In Coming Weeks

Chuck Schumer

Spending Bill

U.S.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called out a &#8220;double dose of Democrat hypocrisy&#8221; when it came to a push to pass the GOP-backed stopgap bill that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">averted</a> a partial government shutdown earlier this month.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Thune alluded to how just nine Democrats and one independent helped the upper chamber <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-clears-key-hurdle-to-avert-shutdown-after-schumer-surrenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overcome</a> the three-fifths filibuster threshold and proceed with a continuing resolution that provided funds to various federal agencies and programs through the end of September.
&#8220;The rest preferred to filibuster the bill and shut down the government. It was a double dose of Democrat hypocrisy,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;Democrats who had campaigned to abolish the filibuster enthusiastically embraced it now that it served their purposes and Democrats who had decried the evils of government shutdowns now embraced shutting down the government.&#8221;
Illustrating how Democrats have changed their tune depending on the situation, Thune shared quotes from some of his colleagues from across the aisle who voted against invoking cloture on the latest funding patch after decrying shutdowns in a political fight last year over keeping the government open.
Without naming anyone, Thune appeared to read a <a href="https://x.com/MarkWarner/status/1771335406493020212" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in March 2024 that called shutdowns &#8220;as devastating as they are stupid&#8221; and <a href="https://x.com/maziehirono/status/1762485328789504444" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another</a> from Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) in February 2024 that said, &#8220;Even a partial shutdown could disrupt supply chains, hurt small businesses, risk travel delays, and increase food prices for millions of Americans.&#8221;
Thune quipped: &#8220;Democrats are changing their position so abruptly it could give you whiplash. The only thing that doesn&#8217;t look likely to change is the Democrats&#8217; willingness to change their principles when it suits their political purposes.&#8221;
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was one of the Democrats who voted in favor of moving forward with the continuing resolution last week. He warned that a shutdown would empower President Donald Trump to keep cutting programs as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk. However, some on the Left have argued that Schumer abdicated to Republicans and went as far as to call on him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-lawmakers-begin-calling-schumer-step-aside" target="_blank" rel="noopener">step aside</a>.
Looking to what comes next, Thune said, &#8220;I hope the Democrats will manage to move past the fact that they weren&#8217;t able to shut down the government, but whether they accept their defeat or decide to throw a tantrum about it, we&#8217;re going continue to do the job that we were elected and sent here to do.&#8221;
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Thune Calls Out ‘Double Dose Of Democrat Hypocrisy’ On Filibusters And Shutdowns

Democrats

Filibuster

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chuck-schumer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Schumer</a> (D-NY) insisted that he is &#8220;best&#8221; suited to lead Democrats in the upper chamber as he faces a crisis of confidence in his party after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-clears-key-hurdle-to-avert-shutdown-after-schumer-surrenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refusing</a> to vote in favor of blocking a Republican-backed stopgap bill to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">avert</a> a partial government shutdown last week.
&#8220;I&#8217;m the best leader for the Senate,&#8221; Schumer said during a &#8220;CBS Mornings&#8221; interview when pressed on calls for him to step aside. &#8220;We have a lot of leaders — you know, when you don&#8217;t have a president, there&#8217;s not one leader of the party. There are lots of them. We have a lot of good people, but we — I am the best at keep — winning Senate seats. I&#8217;ve done it in 2005 to — just in 2020, no one thought we&#8217;d take back the Senate; under my leadership we took it.&#8221;
Democrats offered a four-week continuing resolution (CR) as an alternative to the GOP&#8217;s six-month measure, claiming it would give both sides time to reach a bipartisan agreement. However, Schumer declared he would not vote to stop the Republican funding patch, saying that allowing a shutdown would empower President Donald Trump to keep cutting programs as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk.
Immense blowback within the party ensued.
Liberal groups called for Schumer to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/15/dem-group-calls-schumer-step-down-minority-leader-spending-bill-vote-00232194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">step down</a> as Senate minority leader. Some Democrats in Congress openly rejected his stance in the spending fight, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) notably <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1900607500472275423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> &#8220;next question&#8221; when asked if he had confidence in Schumer. And CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/ocasio-cortez-schumer-democratic-shutdown-plan/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was mobilizing Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-rises-against-schumer-amid-shutdown-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against</a> Schumer’s plan and noted some colleagues were privately urging the leftist firebrand to consider a primary challenge against him.
Schumer, who just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chuck-schumer-scraps-book-tour-citing-security-concerns-amid-backlash-over-cr-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrapped</a> book tour appearances while citing safety concerns, claimed that he and Jeffries have a &#8220;plan&#8221; to counter Trump. As an example, Schumer referred to a <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-jeffries-joint-statement-on-medicaid-day-of-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joint statement</a> that he and Jeffries issued on Tuesday morning touting a &#8220;Medicaid Day of Action&#8221; they claimed would &#8220;push back&#8221; against the &#8220;extreme&#8221; Republican budget. The Senate minority leader added that they would highlight a variety of issues, such as tariffs.
&#8220;It&#8217;s beginning to work,&#8221; Schumer said. &#8220;His numbers have come down. If we keep at it, every day relentless fighting, and showing how they&#8217;re hurting people so badly, Trump&#8217;s numbers will get much lower and his both popularity but also his effectiveness will decline.&#8221;
Schumer will have his work cut out for him.
A national survey from NBC found that Trump and his second-term administration reached a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant milestone</a>, with 44% of Americans saying they believed the United States was &#8220;headed in the right direction&#8221; — the highest level since early 2004 when George W. Bush was president. Meanwhile, the same poll <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> just 27% of respondents had a positive view of the Democrats. A survey from CNN that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> their party at 29% favorability.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Chuck Schumer on Democrats&#039; future, Senate leadership, Israeli strikes and more" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLTJzHdOoUo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Embattled Schumer Crowns Himself ‘The Best Leader For The Senate’

Charles Schumer

A tremendous number of Democrats voted against a continuing resolution to avert a partial government shutdown this past week, as underscored by a statistic delivered by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over the weekend.
Joining &#8220;Life, Liberty, &amp; Levin&#8221; on Fox News, Johnson spoke about how Republicans who control both chambers of Congress &#8220;put the Democrats on record for just raw partisan politics&#8221; with votes on the stopgap bill.
&#8220;Think of it: 99% of the Democrats in Congress, both the House and the Senate, voted to shut the government down to try to make some sort of aimless political point,&#8221; Johnson told host Mark Levin. &#8220;It&#8217;s shameless. They are using the American people as pawns. But Republicans are getting the job done and we&#8217;re sticking up for the country.&#8221;
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99% of Democrats in Congress voted to shut down the government just to make an aimless political point. It is shameless. They are using the American people as pawns.
Meanwhile, Republicans stuck together and got the job done to keep our government funded. <a href="https://t.co/nQx5POfjJg">pic.twitter.com/nQx5POfjJg</a>
&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1901087008052654332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A single House Democrat — Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) — voted in favor of passing the continuing resolution, which provides funds to various federal agencies and programs through September 30. In the Senate, a handful of Democrats chose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to support</a> blocking the funding patch, but only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Angus King (I-ME) voted to pass it.
Johnson gave thanks to his Republican colleagues for largely sticking together and credited President Donald Trump for playing a &#8220;huge part&#8221; in mustering enough support to pass the continuing resolution before the midnight deadline at the end of Friday.
Only Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) broke from the GOP line, warning the stopgap bill would continue to fund programs that the Trump administration seeks to cut via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk. However, Johnson contended the measure did show fiscal restraint.
&#8220;We all dug in and got the job done for the second — third time in a row. They keep underestimating us on these big votes, but the Republicans are sticking together and getting it done,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;And this time, we passed a resolution to fund the government — to do the responsible thing. To do it in a way that actually reduces spending year over year, which we think is the first time that might have happened in the modern era — if ever.&#8221;

House Votes On Budget Bill To Fund Government

Speaker Johnson Shares Eye-Opening Statistic On Dem Shutdown Vote

Mike Johnson

Republicans

On Friday, the GOP-led Senate passed a stopgap bill to stave off a partial government shutdown at the stroke of midnight, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump to sign into law after Democrats gave up their last chance to block it.
The final vote was <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00133.htm#position" target="_blank" rel="noopener">54-46</a> with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Angus King (I-ME) joining with all but one Republican in supporting the measure. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the <a href="https://x.com/RandPaul/status/1899113680848961888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sole</a> Republican to band with the rest of the Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in opposing the bill.
A simple majority was all that was needed for final passage. There was more drama earlier with a vote to invoke cloture, which required a three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — to prevail. That <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-clears-key-hurdle-to-avert-shutdown-after-schumer-surrenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did happen</a> via a 62-38 vote earlier on Friday after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he would not vote for a shutdown and stirred up some blowback from members of his own party.
In order to proceed to a final vote, senators had reached a deal in which members would vote on a few <a href="https://x.com/SenatePPG/status/1900647447728124085" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amendments</a> from Democrats and Paul. All of them failed to pass. However, the upper chamber did pass a stand-alone bill to <a href="https://x.com/Meagan_Flynn/status/1900645749387378839" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protect</a> roughly $1.1 billion in funding for Washington, D.C., that the continuing resolution would remove.
Paul&#8217;s offering, which sought to reduce appropriations for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), failed in a 27-37 vote. The Kentucky Republican had said his amendment would <a href="https://x.com/SenRandPaul/status/1900645923778158702" target="_blank" rel="noopener">codify</a> the cuts made by the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort overseen by Elon Musk.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said in a <a href="https://x.com/SenMullin/status/1900689933985062976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X that Paul&#8217;s amendment &#8220;was well-intentioned, but adopting it would immediately result in a shutdown. Why? It would require the House to re-consider the bill. President Trump doesn&#8217;t want a shutdown. We&#8217;re moving forward on the DOGE Act and MAGA agenda for FY26.&#8221;
The House narrowly passed the 99-page <a href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/bill-text.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continuing resolution</a> — which provides funding to various federal agencies and programs through September 30 — earlier this week. Trump has already endorsed the funding patch as a means to keep the government running and later get to his domestic agenda priorities in national defense, border security, and tax cuts.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (R) (D-NY) speaks with Sen. Cory Booker (L) (D-NJ)

Senate Officially Sends Funding Bill To Trump’s Desk After Dems Cave

On Friday, the GOP-led Senate cleared a significant procedural step to prevent a partial government shutdown, as a sufficient number of Democrats joined an embattled Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in voting to invoke cloture on a stopgap bill ahead of a midnight shutdown.
A three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — was needed to prevent a filibuster on the continuing resolution, which provides funds to various federal agencies and programs through September 30. The cloture vote ended up being 62-38, with nine Democrats and one independent joining with 52 Republicans to advance legislation. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the <a href="https://x.com/RandPaul/status/1899113680848961888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sole</a> Republican to band with the rest of the Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in opposing the bill.
In order to proceed, the Senate reached a deal in which members will vote on a few <a href="https://x.com/SenatePPG/status/1900647447728124085" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amendments</a> from Democrats, including one that aims to block the use of funds by the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort overseen by Elon Musk. There will also be a vote on an offering from Paul that seeks to reduce appropriations for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Paul said his amendment would <a href="https://x.com/SenRandPaul/status/1900645923778158702" target="_blank" rel="noopener">codify</a> the cuts made by DOGE. Further, there will be a vote on a standalone bill to <a href="https://x.com/Meagan_Flynn/status/1900645749387378839" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protect</a> roughly $1 billion in funding for Washington, D.C., that the continuing resolution would remove.
When consideration of the amendments comes to a close, the 99-page <a href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/bill-text.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continuing resolution</a> — which narrowly passed through the House — needs only a simple majority to pass through the Senate in a final vote. It is all but certain to prevail and make its way to President Donald Trump, who has already endorsed the funding patch as a means to keep the government running and later get to his domestic agenda priorities in national defense, border security, and tax cuts.
Schumer has faced immense <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-caves-in-shutdown-showdown?topStoryPosition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blowback</a> from the Left since he revealed on Thursday that he would not vote to stop the stopgap bill. In trying to justify his stance, the top Democrat said that he believed the measure was “very bad,&#8221; but he insisted “allowing” Trump “to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option” and therefore would not support that outcome.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/ocasio-cortez-schumer-democratic-shutdown-plan/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was mobilizing Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-rises-against-schumer-amid-shutdown-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against</a> Schumer’s plan and noted that some of her colleagues are privately urging the leftist firebrand to consider a primary challenge against him. Other Democrats, including their leaders in the House, broke with Schumer on how to deal with the continuing resolution. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) notably <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1900607500472275423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> &#8220;next question&#8221; when asked on Thursday if he had confidence in Schumer.
Democrats had offered a four-week spending patch as an alternative measure that they claimed would give time for them to reach a bipartisan agreement with Republicans. They have argued that passing the GOP-backed bill would help empower Trump to keep cutting government programs as part of the DOGE effort.
&#8220;We’re voting on yet another continuing resolution today because last year’s Democrat majority pushed off full-year appropriations again and again,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1900590637709185319" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X earlier in the day. &#8220;I’m hopeful that enough Democrats will reject their party’s threat of shutting down the government to get this bill passed today.&#8221;
Ultimately, Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) joined with Schumer in voting to invoke cloture on the six-month continuing resolution.
In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114161025000723427" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social that likely did not ease frustrations among leftists, Trump said, &#8220;Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took &#8216;guts&#8217; and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming. We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning!&#8221;

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Senate Clears Key Hurdle To Avert Shutdown After Schumer Surrenders

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is doing a victory lap after the GOP-led House narrowly passed a stopgap bill to prevent a partial government shutdown at the end of this week.
Joining the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFGtbGaT6oQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;The Ben Shapiro Show,&#8221;</a> Johnson&#8217;s talk of a largely unified GOP offered a stark contrast to how the Democrats are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-rises-against-schumer-amid-shutdown-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">turning on</a> each other after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-caves-in-shutdown-showdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that he would not vote to block the counting resolution (CR) ahead of a midnight deadline at the end of Friday.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a team effort. It really is. We do a lot of work to keep everybody on the same page and it pays off when we do that. This is another example of that — when the Republican Party sticks together, we can get big things done, and this is a big thing,&#8221; Johnson told Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro.
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“When the Republican party sticks together, we can get big things done.” <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mikejohnson</a> brings together House Republicans to pass a Continuing Resolution. <a href="https://t.co/NUzIvCdn3z">pic.twitter.com/NUzIvCdn3z</a>
&mdash; The Ben Shapiro Show (@BenShapiroShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenShapiroShow/status/1900600581636714537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It&#8217;s a relatively clean CR except that it has a couple of innovations,&#8221; the speaker said. &#8220;We plussed up defense spending and we reduced non-defense spending in small amounts, but it was important. That&#8217;s exactly what the Trump administration needed to give them flexibility to do what they need to do. We are freezing funding — this is a year-over-year decrease in funding, Ben, and that&#8217;s the first time anybody can remember that that&#8217;s happened.&#8221;
The GOP-led House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-funding-patch-win-trump-speaker-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the 99-page continuing resolution, which provides funds to various federal agencies and programs through September 30, via a 217-213 vote on Tuesday. It was only months ago, in December, that lawmakers resorted to the last continuing resolution that extended funding through mid-March.
All but one Republican and a single Democrat — Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) — supported the latest measure. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who suggested the bill extended the &#8220;fraud and abuse&#8221; found by the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) overseen by Elon Musk, joined the rest of the Democrats in opposing the funding patch.
Johnson said that he keeps making the same analogy when explaining why the continuing resolution is critical for the GOP&#8217;s overall strategy to rein in government spending and get back to passing individual appropriations bills in the next fiscal year (FY).
&#8220;We have an aircraft carrier — that&#8217;s what the federal budget is, right? — and it&#8217;s taken decades to get into the situation we&#8217;re in. We&#8217;re going to turn it but you don&#8217;t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes miles of open ocean, so this is an important turn and then when we get to the next FY 26, the next fiscal year budget, which we&#8217;re about to immediately after FY 25 is done, then it gets real because then the DOGE cuts are included, the new revenue streams that the president and the administration are bringing about become a part of that, and we&#8217;re going to be in a totally different situation,&#8221; Johnson said.
&#8220;So we&#8217;re excited,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s a good day for America and I certainly hope the Senate does the right thing here.&#8221;

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) at House leadership presser.

Speaker Johnson Touts GOP’s ‘Team Effort’ While Dems Fall Into Disarray

U.S. House of Representatives

A high-profile member of the &#8220;Squad&#8221; is taking on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-caves-in-shutdown-showdown?topStoryPosition=undefined" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Thursday that he would not vote to stop a Republican-backed stopgap bill to avert a partial government shutdown.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/ocasio-cortez-schumer-democratic-shutdown-plan/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is mobilizing Democrats against Schumer&#8217;s plan and noted that some of her colleagues are privately urging the leftist firebrand to consider a primary challenge against him.
Ocasio-Cortez did not directly answer when CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1900342531105435825" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> if she thinks Schumer is a &#8220;weak&#8221; leader, but she did contend that not voting against invoking cloture on the Republican continuing resolution would be a &#8220;mistake&#8221; for Democrats.
&#8220;But we have — we have time between now and tomorrow, and I hope that individuals that are considering that — reconsider it, I genuinely do. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s what New Yorkers want. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s what the country wants,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez said.
A partial government shutdown, in which non-essential federal employees will be furloughed, is set to begin at the end of Friday if a funding bill is not passed in time. The GOP-led House narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-funding-patch-win-trump-speaker-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a six-month counting resolution earlier this week.
However, the Senate needs a three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — to invoke cloture and overcome a filibuster on the GOP&#8217;s six-month continuing resolution. Because Republicans have a 53-47 majority, a bipartisan front is needed to proceed.
Schumer said that he believes the GOP funding patch is &#8220;very bad,&#8221; but he insisted &#8220;allowing&#8221; President Donald Trump &#8220;to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option&#8221; and therefore would not support that outcome.
Prior to Schumer, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the sole Senate Democrat to openly <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1899584350305276091" target="_blank" rel="noopener">state</a> that he would not support blocking the Republican stopgap bill. Many others have released statements declaring their opposition to the GOP proposal.
House Democrat leaders <a href="https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/1900375732804628931" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke with</a> Schumer, releasing a statement that endorsed a four-week continuing resolution their party has offered as an alternative to the Republican measure and bluntly stating, &#8220;House Democrats will not be complicit.&#8221;
Schumer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJDHET0MAz8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during an interview on MSNBC that he &#8220;knew&#8221; he would be criticized, but the Senate minority leader insisted he &#8220;felt obligated for the country, for my Democratic caucus — to the people — to explain how bad a shutdown would be.&#8221;

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senate Dem Leader Chuck Schumer.

AOC Rises Against Schumer Amid Shutdown Meltdown

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared that he will not vote against moving forward with a Republican-backed stopgap bill to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
The announcement, in which Schumer criticized President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk, marked an abrupt turnaround. Just one day ago, the top Senate Democrat insisted the Republican majority did not have enough votes for the House-passed continuing resolution to clear a key procedural hurdle.
&#8220;While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse. &#8230; I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,&#8221; Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
He added later: &#8220;I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenSchumer</a> (D-NY): &quot;While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse … Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1IkuJqOObr">pic.twitter.com/1IkuJqOObr</a>
&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1900322126340509753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Senate needs three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — to invoke cloture and overcome a filibuster on the GOP&#8217;s six-month continuing resolution. Because Republicans have a 53-47 majority, they cannot clear that threshold without some kind of bipartisan agreement. The spending legislation will need only a simple majority to prevail in a final vote.
A partial government shutdown, in which non-essential federal employees will be furloughed, is set to begin at the end of Friday if a funding bill is not passed in time. It was only months ago, in December, that lawmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-last-minute-funding-bill-to-avert-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resorted</a> to the last continuing resolution that extended funding through mid-March.
The Democrat leader&#8217;s statement came after a Senate Democrat meeting in which reporters <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1900259650127208589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they could <a href="https://x.com/aishahhasnie/status/1900259746868838565" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hear</a> Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) shouting about a shutdown.
It was not immediately clear how many Democrats or independents will join Schumer, though his opposition to a shutdown may signal better odds for the Republican continuing resolution. Still, some on the Left have expressed stern disapproval of the plan.
Many Democrats had previously released statements claiming they would resist the GOP measure. Prior to Schumer, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the sole Democrat to openly <a href="https://x.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1899584350305276091" target="_blank" rel="noopener">state</a> that he would not support blocking the Republican stopgap bill.
&#8220;The weeks of performative ‘resistance’ from those in my party were limited to undignified antics,&#8221; Fetterman said on X. &#8220;Voting to shut the government down will punish millions or risk a recession. I disagree with many points in the CR, but I will never vote to shut our government down.&#8221;
One Republican — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) — <a href="https://x.com/RandPaul/status/1899113680848961888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signaled</a> that he will vote against the bill. However, that does not necessarily mean he would oppose breaking the filibuster.
“Despite [DOGE’s] findings of loony left-wing USAID programs, the Republican spending bill continues to fund the very foreign aid [Musk] proposes to cut! The bill continues spending at the inflated pandemic levels and will add $2T to the debt this year,” Paul said in a post on X. “Count me as a hell no!”
The GOP-led House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-funding-patch-win-trump-speaker-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a 99-page <a href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/bill-text.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continuing resolution</a>, which provides funds to various federal agencies and programs through September 30, via a 217-213 vote on Tuesday. All but one Republican and a single Democrat — Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) — supported the measure. The rest of the Democrats and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) opposed the bill.
Republicans soon began warning of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-shutdown-looms-as-dems-plan-to-block-gop-spending-patch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Schumer Shutdown&#8221;</a> after the minority leader declared the Senate majority lacked the votes necessary to break the filibuster on the GOP&#8217;s continuing resolution. Schumer argued the upper chamber should instead take up a one-month funding patch being offered by the Democrats.
&#8220;Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort but Republicans chose a partisan path drafting their continuing without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,&#8221; Schumer <a href="https://x.com/sahilkapur/status/1899910466589126800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Wednesday.
&#8220;Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We should vote on that.&#8221;
Trump has endorsed the House-passed continuing resolution as a means to keep the government running and later get to his domestic agenda priorities in national defense, border security, and tax cuts.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/maxpcohen/status/1900193673385595059" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said earlier in the day that he was open to allowing a vote on the 30-day stopgap proposal as an amendment to placate Democrats, although it was not clear as of press time if that will happen. &#8220;We’re waiting to decide what they want to do,&#8221; he said, according to Punchbowl News reporter Max Cohen.

Schumer Caves In Shutdown Showdown

With Democrats threatening to force a partial government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is being confronted with a warning he delivered just last year.
The &#8220;Rapid Response&#8221; account on X for President Donald Trump&#8217;s White House posted on Thursday a &#8220;flashback&#8221; clip of Schumer&#8217;s remarks from September — when the top Democrat pinned a potential shutdown at that time on Republicans.
&#8220;If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most. A government shutdown means seniors who rely on Social Security could be thrown into chaos &#8230;&#8221; Schumer said.
&#8220;So what changed, Chuck?&#8221; the White House account asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Flashback to <a href="https://twitter.com/SenSchumer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenSchumer</a> last September: 
&quot;If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most. A government shutdown means seniors who rely on Social Security could be thrown into chaos.&quot;
So what changed, Chuck? <a href="https://t.co/eyM07qBYv6">pic.twitter.com/eyM07qBYv6</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1900165293004997007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Earlier this week, the GOP-led House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-funding-patch-win-trump-speaker-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> another continuing resolution to avert a partial government shutdown by the end of this week — in which non-essential federal employees will be furloughed — and keep federal agencies and programs funded through September 30. But on Wednesday, Schumer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-shutdown-looms-as-dems-plan-to-block-gop-spending-patch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> Republicans &#8220;do not have&#8221; the votes needed to break a filibuster.
A flurry of GOP senators and their allies piled on Schumer in response to the clip posted by the White House.
&#8220;Chuck Schumer should take some advice from *checks notes* Chuck Schumer. Let’s avoid a Schumer Shutdown,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/SenatorHagerty/status/1900189771172905141" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a> Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN).
&#8220;The Trump Derangement Syndrome continues,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/SenThomTillis/status/1900186205632839886" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sen. Thom Thillis (R-NC). &#8220;One of the first things Democrats did when they controlled the Senate was to make a failed push to nuke the filibuster because [Joe] Biden was President. Now they are shamefully filibustering and on the verge of shutting down the government to appease their radical base because Trump is President.&#8221;
Elon Musk, who is overseeing the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1900179542771409389" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a>: &#8220;Paging 2024 Schumer …&#8221;
As an alternative to the House spending patch, Schumer has proposed a four-week continuing resolution to &#8220;keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass.&#8221; However, Republicans control the Senate and are moving forward with the lower chamber&#8217;s bill.
It is possible that leaders reach a deal in which enough Democrats or independents vote to advance the House bill — a three-fifths majority, or 60 votes, will be needed to invoke cloture — in exchange for a vote on the minority&#8217;s alternative measure, potentially as some kind of amendment.

Schumer’s Own Govt Shutdown Warning Comes Back To Haunt Him

House Democrats are facing ridicule for parroting identical critiques of the Republican-backed stopgap bill to avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
Within a span of a few hours Wednesday, several lawmakers <a href="https://x.com/Chesschick01/status/1900072839400575404">posted</a> on X largely the same message about how they wanted to vote on a four-week continuing resolution in place of the six-month bill already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-funding-patch-win-trump-speaker-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> by the GOP-led House that is now under <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-shutdown-looms-as-dems-plan-to-block-gop-spending-patch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">consideration</a> in the Senate.
<blockquote>House Democrats stand united for a four-week funding extension that stops harmful cuts, keeps the government open, and allows Congress to reach a bipartisan funding agreement.
I am ready to vote today, tomorrow or Friday to pass a bipartisan extension.</blockquote>
Longtime Capitol Hill reporter Jamie Dupree <a href="https://x.com/jamiedupree/status/1899993968533807520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> a screen grab of four posts that mirrored each other from Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Emilia Strong Sykes (D-OH), and Sarah McBride (D-DE).
&#8220;Democrats using Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V,&#8221; Dupree said.
In response, Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1900171323269140568" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>, &#8220;it&#8217;s very interesting. in an era where people talk all the time about authenticity on social media, Dems are going in this direction.&#8221;
Republican lawmakers chided their Democrat colleagues.
&#8220;This is what happens [when] you have no leader, no plan, or no vision. It is about as cringe as their choose your fighter videos,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RepLisaMcClain/status/1899998511627735504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI), referring to a recent promo featuring Democrats that was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/female-dems-choose-your-fighter-promo-delivers-knockout-blow-to-illusion-they-were-ever-serious" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely mocked</a>.
&#8220;Embarrassing,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/RepAshleyHinson/status/1900177333949993368" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA). &#8220;Democrats have zero authentic message other than shutting down the government because they just despise [President Donald] Trump. Free advice &#8211; don’t shut down the government &amp; start working with Republicans to deliver on the commonsense agenda Americans voted for.&#8221;
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) <a href="https://x.com/Kat_Cammack/status/1900196372827058413" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a>, &#8220;The left has always hated independent thinkers, so this is no surprise coming from the copy/paste caucus,&#8221; and ended her post with a &#8220;woman shrugging&#8221; emoji.
Elon Musk, who is overseeing the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency, effort, also sounded off.
&#8220;They must be using the same social media intern,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1900050108584181980" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a>.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/like-someones-telling-democrats-what-to-say-dems-mass-post-scripted-videos-ahead-of-trump-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by The Daily Wire, Democrats also pushed out almost identical video messages ahead of Trump’s first joint address to Congress of his second term last week.

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