(2025-03-14) Ten Senate Democrats Cave To Avert Government Shutdown

Ten Senate Democrats cave to avert government shutdown. Ten Senate Democrats joined with the Republican majority in voting to move forward with a stopgap spending bill Friday — clearing the path to avoid a government shutdown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_federal_budget#March_2025_continuing_resolution

Why it matters: Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is facing outrage from his party, including House leadership, over his decision to vote for the bill. Many Democrats wanted to force a shutdown to protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's sweeping federal spending cuts.

Democratic Sens. Richard Durbin (Dick Durbin) (Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) (Nev.) all voted "yes" in addition to Schumer, — as did Maine's Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Zoom out: The bill largely maintains 2024 levels of spending through the end of September, with some additional defense funds and nearly $500 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The measure narrowly passed the House earlier this week with all Republicans except Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voting for it and all Democrats except Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voting against it.

Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) ability to get the bill through the House — despite his narrow margins and skeptical conservatives — presented Senate Democrats with a tough choice: Join Republicans or risk getting blamed for a government shutdown.