Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending bill

Schumer said allowing Trump to 'take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option'

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)

What happened

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday night that faced with two "terrible" options, he will vote for a House Republican stopgap spending bill, and he reportedly said he had enough Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster by his party. Only one other Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), has publicly said he will back the legislation. Senate passage before midnight Friday would keep the government funded through September.

Who said what

Schumer's announcement "stunned many of his colleagues" and infuriated House Democrats, The New York Times said. Senate Democrats have "agonized" for days over what "many of them described an impossible choice between two evils." Those opposed to the bill, The Washington Post said, argued it lacks the typical directives that "dictate how money can be spent," enabling President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to "lay off government workers and seek to eliminate programs without congressional input."

Schumer said Thursday that while the GOP bill is "deeply partisan" and "nihilistic," he believed allowing Trump to "take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option." Trump would have "full authority to deem whole agencies" nonessential, "furloughing staff with no promise that they would ever be rehired," he said, while congressional Republicans could revive only "their favorite departments and agencies," leaving the rest to "languish" indefinitely.

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What next?

The bill, now likely to pass Friday afternoon, funds the government at current levels until Sept. 30, "with some key exceptions," The Wall Street Journal said. It cuts $13 billion for nondefense programs, boosts military spending by $6 billion, claws back another $20.2 billion of IRS funds to increase tax compliance by wealthy people and leaves Washington, D.C., with a $1.1 billion shortfall.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.