After House Republicans managed to pass a partisan government funding bill Tuesday, Senate Democrats now face a choice: Vote for a measure they all think is unsatisfactory, or effectively force a government shutdown.
Democrats have barely two-and-a-half days to figure it out. And as the clock ticks, they hardly seem close to a decision.
The House GOP bill would provide funding through September — far longer than the 30-day extension Democrats in both chambers prefer. Leading up to the vote, Senate Democrats insisted they wanted to see the House actually succeed in passing a bill before they would weigh in.
No one was certain it would happen.
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But when it did, and when reporters approached Senate Democrats Tuesday night — minutes after the House succeeded — few senators were willing to show their cards.
Sen. Jon Ossoff repeatedly said he’s assessing the bill’s “impact on Georgia.” Sen. Mark Warner simply said “nothing to share with you tonight.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Democrats want a short-term extension — an effort that House Republicans basically kneecapped when they quickly left town after passing the bill.
The message from the House was clear: This bill or a shutdown.
Democratic senators have been clear about this much: They don’t like the bill. They don’t want to vote for it. They’d rather keep negotiating. The House is inept.
The insults have been free-flowing, but the declarative statements that they won’t vote for it have not.
Several Democratic senators have stopped short of saying they’d vote “no,” raising the prospect that the answer, ultimately, might be yes.
“I don’t think CRs are a good option,” Sen. Mark Kelly said. “Government shutdowns are not a good option. So there’s two bad options.”
Sen. John Hickenlooper said he wants to see what changes have been made to the House bill.
“I’m not happy,” Hickenlooper said, still refraining from saying he’d vote against the bill.
“It’s one of those things where, as we go through it, it’s just going to feel like a bad dream,” he said.
Sen. Jacky Rosen said lawmakers “need to do everything we can to avoid the government shutdown,” adding that Democrats are “considering all our options.”
At least one Senate Democrat has said he’ll vote for the measure: John Fetterman. Republicans will need eight Democrats to vote with them in total to reach the 60-vote threshold required for breaking the filibuster, given that Republican Sen. Rand Paul is already in opposition.
It’s a nasty political calculus for Senate Democrats. The bill fell along party lines in the House, aside from Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a bonafide moderate who’s considering higher office in the battleground state. And some progressive House Democrats are openly pressuring their Senate companions to vote no.
“Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “Tell them: 1. Vote NO on Cloture AND 2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill. Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.”
“TODAY is the showdown,” she added.
But, per usual, senators have different concerns than their House colleagues. Some fear a shutdown is what Elon Musk — and perhaps President Donald Trump — actually wants, believing it would allow Musk even more latitude to chop the limbs of government agencies.
“Obviously I’m concerned about what this administration will do with regards to bringing people back to work if there was a government shutdown,” Kelly said.
Trump’s administration continues to eliminate federal employees. On Tuesday, the Department of Education announced half of its staff would be terminated as part of a “streamlining process.”
Senate Democrats will be meeting for a caucus lunch on Wednesday after an unusually lengthy meeting on Tuesday produced no agreements on how to proceed.
After the meeting on Tuesday, Sen. Peter Welch said senators were “asking questions and making suggestions.” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said they were “debating.” And Minority Leader Chuck Schumer simply said the food — baked chicken with greens — was so good that they stuck around for seconds.
Asked how the caucus would vote, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin told reporters it’s ”too early to say.”
What’s more, even if Democrats open the door to voting for the bill, there could be other demands. They could push Senate Majority Leader John Thune for an amendments process; Ossoff said that decision “remains to be seen.” And as the days tick by, they could risk needing a time agreement with Senate Republicans to move government funding through a cloture vote and passage before funding runs out on Friday night.
There’s also the pesky pressure of a looming recess next week — the first the Senate would have taken all year. Senate Republicans insist they’re willing to stick around.
“If the Democrats want to slow it down, they can drag it into next week,” Sen. John Barrasso said.
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Ursula Perano is a reporter at NOTUS. Ben T.N. Mause is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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