Politics
JUST IN: Schumer Backs Down On Shutdown Threat, Will Vote For Cloture
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated Thursday that he intends to vote in favor of cloture, which would allow Senate Republicans to need only a simple majority to enact the House-passed continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September.
If Democrats do not move to waive cloture, Senate Republicans would need the help of multiple Democrats in order to pass the bill. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has announced his opposition to the legislation, meaning that eight Senate Democrats would need to join with Republicans in order to avoid a shutdown.
On Wednesday, Schumer suggested that Democrats will not vote in favor of the bill or a cloture motion, which would lead to a government shutdown when the deadline expires this coming Friday. “Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their [continuing resolution] without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass,” the Senate minority leader continued in a roundabout way of saying that Democrats will vote to shut down the government.
Less than 24 hours later, Schumer appears to be backing down on the shutdown threat from Senate Democrats. According to a report from ABC News, Democrats are working on a plan that would give Republicans the necessary votes to advance the bill in exchange for a vote on their own amendment, which would allow for a 30-day stopgap measure in order to allow additional negotiations on a budget bill.
Democrats have been pushing for a 30-day resolution in hopes of gaining leverage in negotiations, though Republicans have described the ideas as a nonstarter. A vote on the amendment would almost certainly fail, though Schumer and Senate Democrats see the maneuver as a way to save face while also avoiding a government shutdown.
“I think we’re going to all be ‘no’ on cloture unless we get an agreement to propose at least this 30-day clean [continuing resolution] amendment and maybe a couple of others,” Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters on Thursday morning. “So we’ll be ‘no’ on cloture unless we get an agreement to do that. I’m not aware of whether the Republicans have agreed to that yet, but we’ll be ‘no’ on cloture if we don’t get it, and I think that’s a unified position.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters that he has been in contact with Schumer’s staff, though he stressed that a formal offer has not yet been made. Thune did state that if Democrats wanted a vote on a 30-day stopgap measure in exchange for providing Republicans with the votes they need to invoke cloture, “they can get that.”
While Schumer indicated that a shutdown was likely on Wednesday, the caucus was divided on how to proceed, according to a report from NBC News. Some Democrats, including Kaine, attempted to blame Republicans for a shutdown even though Democrats would be voting to do so. Others, including Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), worried about potential blowback from a shutdown.
“Quite frankly, both outcomes are bad,” Senator Raphael Warnock said. “Elections have consequences, but this is an extreme bill. If it passes, it will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground. If the government shuts down, that will hurt a lot of ordinary people on the ground, and so that is the dilemma in which we found ourselves.”
After meeting with Senate Democrats for lunch on Thursday, the New York Times reported that the Senate minority leader intends to vote for cloture on Friday morning. In order to do so, he will need at least six Senate Democrats to join him, which is likely.
To date, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is the lone Democrat who has announced his openness to voting for the House-passed resolution. He has criticized the idea of trading cloture in exchange for a doomed vote on the 30-day stopgap measure, however
.”The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes,” Fetterman said in a poston X. “Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.”
