Senate Democrats to provide votes for Trump-backed resolution to avoid government shutdown

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats volition extremity a standstill against their Republican colleagues to avert a authorities shutdown, allowing GOP leaders to determination guardant with their ain backing program that has not received immoderate Democratic support.

After days of closed-door meetings with Democratic senators, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced connected Thursday helium would ballot to extremity the filibuster, teeing up a ballot for a six-month agelong continuing solution (CR) that would widen authorities backing done the extremity of September. The reversal comes conscionable 1 time aft Schumer warned Republicans they did not person the votes needed to beforehand the bill.

“While the CR measure is precise bad, the imaginable for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, overmuch worse,” Schumer said connected the Senate floor. “A shutdown would springiness Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE … the keys to the city, the authorities and the country.”

“I volition ballot to support the authorities unfastened and not unopen it down,” helium added.

Despite holding power of some chambers of Congress, Republicans inactive person a mathematics occupation successful the Senate. To flooded a filibuster, 60 senators indispensable ballot to invoke cloture connected a portion of authorities — meaning astatine slightest 7 Democrats would request to transverse enactment lines to beforehand the measure.

In this case, Republicans request astatine slightest 8 Democrats aft Republican Sen. Rand Paul came retired successful absorption to the existent CR proposal.

How volition Utah senators ballot connected CR?

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is inclined to ballot for the CR truthful agelong arsenic it remains escaped of immoderate provisions seeking to restrict the Trump administration.

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, told the Deseret News Thursday determination are inactive immoderate variables helium is considering but helium is “certainly leaning toward a yes.”

It remains unclear however galore Democrats volition ballot to invoke cloture, and a increasing fig said they would not bash truthful arsenic meetings dragged connected Thursday.

More than a twelve Democratic senators vowed to reason the backing measure erstwhile it’s brought to the floor, including Sens. Mark Kelly, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan, Adam Schiff, and Elizabeth Warren, among others.

But aft a tense closed-door luncheon connected Thursday — during which, reporters could perceive Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand yelling astatine her colleagues astir avoiding a shutdown — a fewer senators appeared to admit immoderate of their colleagues would propulsion to extremity the filibuster.

“I’m not going to ballot for the CR but I afloat respect radical who’ve travel to a antithetic conclusion,” Heinrich said.

The 11th-hour statement offers a way forward, but it leaves small clip for the Senate to get the backing measure done the precocious enclosure and connected Trump’s table by the midnight deadline connected Friday.

The Senate is expected to ballot for cloture connected Friday morning, giving enactment leaders little than 24 hours to finalize a clip statement earlier a shutdown takes place. However, adjacent if the CR isn’t signed by Trump earlier the midnight deadline, it would apt lone effect successful a symbolic shutdown.

Consequences of a shutdown wouldn’t beryllium felt until astatine slightest Monday, which is apt to beryllium avoided if the CR is passed by the Senate connected Friday and delivered to Trump implicit the weekend.