Senate Democrats House passes spending bill government shutdown looms In spectacular manner, House Republicans passed a plan to fund the government through the end of September 2025.
In dramatic manner, House Republicans passed a package to fund the government through the end of September 2025 — a big triumph for Speaker Mike Johnson, who had traditionally relied on Democrats for bipartisan backing to escape a shutdown.
The House voted 217-213 to pass the budget plan, known as a continuing resolution, days before some money runs out.
Following the House vote — which saw just a single Republican defection — Johnson complimented President Donald Trump, who helped convince GOP holdouts to approve the package.
“We are united in our mission to deliver the America first agenda,” Johnson stated in a post on X.
The budget bill now travels to the Senate — where it requires 60 votes to pass, and its destiny remains unknown.
The House’s passage has left Senate Democrats divided on the “stark” decision ahead.
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Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the sole Democrat to vote with Republicans to approve the proposal. In a 54 to 45 vote, the bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to take it forward.
“The law before us is poorly worded and deeply problematic. It will have many unexpected repercussions that contradict its fundamental aim,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said ahead of the vote.
What will Senate Democrats do?
“There are essentially only two options: One is vote for a rather terrible CR. Or the other is to vote for a potentially much worse shutdown,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, following the House decision. “So it’s a very tough choice,”
Democrats gathered for two hours Tuesday with no unanimity on how they planned to conduct the vote on the bill — and the rift is obvious.
Some Democrats are definitely leaning toward delivering a difficult vote to oppose the House bill and effectively shut down the government.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., dubbed the House-passed CR a “shutdown bill” that Republicans will take responsibility for in a floor speech Tuesday night.
“A budget is a reflection of our values,” Warren remarked on the floor. “This idea makes crystal apparent where Republicans’ principles lay. After months of bipartisan talks, they’re walking away from the bargaining table and delivering a non-starter House measure that drives us to the edge of a full government shutdown. The Republican shutdown approach is reckless, and it will affect working people.”
Though she did not clearly specify how she planned to vote on the package, she said House Democrats were correct to oppose the measure, and suggested the Senate should follow suit.
“Democrats in the House have showed us they are united,” Warren said, when asked if Senate Democrats should be united in their opposition to the House proposal. “Why should it be different in the Senate?”
Separately, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated Tuesday that Senate Democrats should oppose the legislation.
“The strong House Democratic vote in opposition to this reckless Republican spending bill speaks for itself,” Jeffries added.
Senate Dem: Vote ‘like a bad dream’
Pointing to the “stark” choice Senate Democrats face, King said he had fears that the “uncharted” territory of a shutdown under the new Trump administration that has already laid off federal employees.
“A shutdown is uncharted territory when you’ve got an administration that at least in some ways probably would welcome a shutdown because that would give the president almost unlimited power: deciding who is essential who is not unessential, folding up agencies,” King added. “So that is the dilemma that is being discussed.”
The House has left town for the week after passing their bill. If Democrats in the Senate want to avert a shut down on Friday night, they’ll have to offer at least eight votes to achieve it, with Republican Sen. Rand Paul already indicating he’ll oppose the deal.
It’s uncertain what direction they’ll ultimately select but some members are visibly troubled by the option.
“They made a bunch of changes, I want to see what they’re changing,” Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. said.
“I’m not happy … It’s one of those things once we get through it, it’s going to feel like a bad dream. I’ve had to go through it.”
House vote: 1 Republican ‘No,’ 1 Democratic ‘Yes’
In the House vote, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie voted no — despite pressure from the president in the form of a primary threat. In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump argued that the defection warranted waging a primary fight against Massie.
To win the proposal Tuesday afternoon, Johnson depended on some GOP support from Republicans who had never voted in favor of a continuing resolution.
Rep. Jared Golden was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans. All other Democrats voted against the motion — potentially anticipating the position of Senate Democrats.
“This CR is not great, but a shutdown would be worse. Even a brief closure would inject even more confusion and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it,” Golden commented on X.
He also chastised Democrats for employing what he called “messaging gimmicks” around the bill.
The law funds the government at existing levels through Sept. 30, 2025.
What’s in the bill?
The 99-page plan cuts spending overall from last year’s funding levels, but raises spending for the military by nearly $6 billion.
While there is an additional $6 billion for veterans’ health care, non-defense spending is nearly $13 billion below than fiscal year 2024 levels.
The plan leaves out emergency cash for disasters, but gives a surge in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation operations.
It also increases money for W.I.C. by nearly $500 million, a program that delivers free groceries to low-income mothers and children.
Now that the House has despatched its bill to the Senate, it’s not yet obvious how it will fare as it would take considerable bipartisan support to pass the upper chamber.
Vote was crucial test of Johnson’s leadership | Spending Bill Government Shutdown 2025
The ICC bill blocked Senate Democrats | Spending Bill Government Shutdown 2025 was a big test for Johnson. In the absence of Democratic backing, Johnson could only afford to lose one Republican vote before a second defection killed the bill.
In a statement following the vote, Johnson claimed Republicans “stood for the American people” and criticised Democrats who he said “decided to double down on partisan politics.”
Johnson had significant allies in Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who pressured House Republicans to build up support ahead of the vote.
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In the final hours before the Tuesday vote, Trump hit the phones, reaching out to the House Republicans who remained unsure.
On Tuesday morning, Vance attended a closed-door House conference meeting where he urged House Republicans to be on board with the vote and underlined the necessity of not closing the government down, participants stated to ABC News.
Government financing is due to cease at the end of the day on Friday, March 14.
