Schumer Says He’ll Now Vote to Approve GOP Spending Bill, Avoid Shutdown

By Dan McCaleb and Therese Boudreaux | The Center Square

(Worthy News) – With just a day before the potential for a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., switched course Thursday night and said he would vote to approve House Republicans’ Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year.

“I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Just a day earlier, Schumer said Democrats would not support the House bill unless a Democratic amendment was added to shorten the stopgap budget to one month. The measure passed by the Republican majority in the House funds the government for more than six months, through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Republicans, who hold a slight majority in the Senate, need eight Democratic votes to avoid a filibuster and move the Continuing Resolution to the floor for a full Senate vote, when only a majority is needed to pass it and send it to President Donald Trump’s desk. Trump supports the measure.

Up until Thursday night, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to say publicly that he would support the CR, arguing that Democrats’ demand for a futile vote on their own stopgap is merely a symbolic show of defiance against Trump.

With Schumer now saying he will vote for the GOP CR, the door is open for other Democrats to follow suit.

Without passage, many parts of the federal government would shut down at midnight.

As The Center Square previously reported, Republicans’ 99-page bill would keep most government spending on autopilot through the end of the existing fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The CR makes some funding adjustments from fiscal year 2024, including slashing $13 billion in non-defense spending, boosting defense spending by $6 billion, increasing WIC and CSFP nutritional programs spending by $500 million and $36 million, respectively.

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