The House Democrats had a sense of outrage and betrayal

Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer Revisites Senate Majority Leader John Thune: We Need to Educate the Senate on the Future of the Budget

Democrats huddled behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to discuss the future of the spending bill as a critical vote nears. They have until the end of Friday to avoid a shutdown and the rapidly approaching deadline gives them few options.

Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer was blamed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune for the bind Democrats are in and called on to make a decision on how they will proceed.

“If Democrats want to fish or cut bait, they have to do it now,” said the senator in his speech. “We have two days until government funding expires. And 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.”

The party’s base wants them to fight the fires in the federal workforce and stop the funding bill that was put together without input from the Democrats.

Democrats say it’s not that simple. Some people are concerned about the impact and length of a shutdown and what the plan would be to get out of it. Also weighing on Democrats hoping to regain control of at least one chamber of Congress is 2026 is the political impact. Republicans have control over both the House and Senate, but Trump has a microphone, so Democrats in the Senate will decide what happens.

Senate Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, but likely need eight Democratic votes in the GOP-led chamber to overcome a filibuster in the GOP-led chamber to pass the measure, known as a continuing resolution.

Senate Republicans will have at least one defection. Kentucky GOP Sen. Last week, Paul said that he would vote no on the plan unless it was able to codify Musk’s cuts.

So far only one Senate Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has said publicly he would vote with the GOP to approve the CR. Fetterman said he wants to avoid a shutdown: “that’s chaos and I will never vote for chaos.”

Schumer instead called for a four-week stopgap measure on Wednesday, which would keep agencies funded at current levels through April 11 as both parties negotiate on the annual spending bills.

Outrage and Betrayal: Sen. Thune, Schumer, Gallego, and Ocasio-Cortez Revisited

Thune told reporters Thursday he was open to giving Democrats an opportunity to vote on their proposal, but he didn’t expect it to pass. He said he had not heard any offer from Democrats yet.

“If they want to vote on that in exchange for getting us the votes to pass to September 30, I think we’re open to that. The final action here will have to be due to the fact the House is gone.

Warner and Hickenlooper said they wouldn’t vote for the short term bill because they were up for reelection in 10 years. And although Schumer signaled his caucus was united, not all Democrats agree.

He said on social media platform X that total theater is not honest and a winning argument because the country is at risk of a recession if it is shut down.

Both Arizona Senators, Democrats Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, publicly came out against the funding bill through September after saying for last few days they had concerns about the impact of the stopgap and a possible shutdown on their state.

House Democrats remained largely united on opposing the plan, and many took to social media to urge their Senate Democratic counterparts to do the same.

“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal and this is not just progressive Democrats — this is across the board, the entire party,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Thursday night at a party retreat in Leesburg, Va.

The House Democrats began their yearly retreat concerned about how the Senate would vote on the GOP spending bill, since they all voted against it earlier in the week. Democrats hoped the senators would follow suit because they saw that vote as a moment of solidarity.

Jayapal, the former Chair of the Progressive Caucus, warned that the vote is about more than just this spending bill. She said if they give in, they will give in on a lot of things.

Morelle assumed that some of them are trying to be smart by voting against the CR after they’ve voted to let the bill on the floor. “Frankly, now I think this just gives license to Republicans to continue to dismantle the government. They now have the acquiescence of Senate Democrats.”

She said that there is time to correct course and that she and her colleagues are calling and texting the senators to prevent the cloture vote.

She said that a shutdown isn’t inevitable. “We can pass a 30-day extension to allow Republicans to negotiate with Democrats in order for us to have a functioning government.”

This is not a time to not have clarity or purpose. This is a chance to make a decision, according to New Mexico’s congressman.

“It’s important for us to let the American people know that we are going to stand up and fight for them in one of the few opportunities that Democrats have to gain leverage over this administration.”

The GOP bill, according to a statement released by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, will make everyday Americans suffer and give Donald Trump and Musk the power to dismantle the federal government.

Jeffries, along with whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and caucus chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., wrote that their caucus stands ready to vote for a four-week continuing resolution that brings parties back to the negotiating table.