The Senate finds itself racing against time to prevent a government shutdown March 2025 with only hours left before funding runs out. As of Friday, March 14, lawmakers face tough choices over a spending bill that has already passed the House. Democrats have spent days talking about their worries, but Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer made it clear late Thursday that he would not let the government close, even though many in his party don’t like the bill.
The government needs money to keep working, and this bill would provide that money until the end of September. Democrats worry that the bill gives President Donald Trump too much power to decide how to spend money. They call it a “blank check” for the president. Still, Schumer believes that a shutdown would be worse than passing a bill he doesn’t completely support. “While the CR still is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” Schumer told other senators. A CR is what people in Washington call a continuing resolution, which is a short-term bill to keep the government running.
Today’s vote will show if the bill has enough support to move forward. At least eight Democrats must join with Republicans to get the 60 votes needed. If the first vote passes, they will likely vote on the final bill later in the day. This is already the third short-term funding bill for this year, which is almost half over. Congress hasn’t been able to pass the regular yearly spending bills, so they keep using these temporary fixes instead.
The bill would cut non-defense spending by about $13 billion from last year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion. These may seem like big numbers, but they’re actually small changes when talking about nearly $1.7 trillion in total spending. Republicans say that if the government shuts down, it will be the Democrats’ fault. “Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if they’re going to shut down the government,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune when opening the Senate on Thursday.
Some liberal groups have been pushing Democrats to reject the bill and ask for a shorter 30-day extension instead. But Schumer thinks that during a government shutdown March 2025, President Trump would get even more power. He could decide which government offices and workers are “non-essential” and send them home without pay. “A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, the state and the country,” Schumer warned.
Democrats have many reasons why they don’t like this bill. They point out that both defense and non-defense spending is lower than what both parties agreed to almost two years ago. Without specific instructions in the bill, the Trump administration can decide where money goes. For example, money that was meant to fight dangerous drugs like fentanyl could instead be used for deporting immigrants. At the Army Corps of Engineers, the administration rather than Congress would decide how to spend money on more than 1,000 projects related to business, flood control and healthy ecosystems.
Washington, D.C. also gets a bad deal in this bill. Even though D.C. raises most of its own money, the bill would force it to go back to last year’s spending levels. Mayor Muriel Bowser said D.C. would have to cut spending by $1.1 billion over just a few months. Democrats also don’t like that the bill takes away $20 billion in special funding for the IRS, on top of another $20 billion that was already taken away last year. This basically cuts in half the extra money that Congress gave the agency when Joe Biden was president.
This spending bill is different from another Republican plan to extend tax cuts for individuals that were passed during Trump’s first term. That second package will be worked on in the coming months. Democrats argue that both efforts are designed to help wealthy people at the expense of everyone else. “You’re looking at a one-two punch, a very bad CR, then a reconciliation bill coming down, which will be the final kick in the teeth for the American people,” said Senator Bernie Sanders.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton called the Democrats hypocritical, saying they were basically threatening to shut down the government to protect the government. “Democrats are fighting to withhold the paychecks of air traffic controllers, our troops, federal custodial staff,” Cotton argued. “They can’t be serious.”
As the threat of a government shutdown March 2025 continues, both sides seem ready to blame each other if the worst happens. But with Schumer signaling that Democrats won’t block the bill, it seems likely that the government will stay open, even if many Democrats hold their noses while voting yes.
