(AFP) – US senators agreed Friday to move forward with a bill backed by President Donald Trump to keep the government funded, greatly reducing the chances of a feared weekend government shutdown, as opposition from the minority Democrats collapsed. The Republican-led Senate muscled the legislation through a preliminary ballot that required Democratic cooperation to reach a 60-vote threshold — clearing it for final passage before the midnight deadline.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had shocked his rank-and-file Democrats when he delivered a speech late on Thursday announcing he would back the Republican-drafted six-month funding proposal. The concession — which took some of the suspense out of the funding fight — capped a deeply polarizing, weeks-long standoff. Although the government would begin grinding to a halt at midnight with no deal, many Democrats are furious at Trump-backed spending cuts in the package, which passed the Republican-controlled House earlier this week.
The legislation — which keeps the government open through September — still needs one more approval vote but is now on a glide path to Trump’s desk, because of a lower, 51-vote threshold required for final passage. Schumer published an op-ed in The New York Times defending his decision to support the package, a U-turn that sparked an angry backlash from critics who accused him of a “betrayal,” and of “caving.” Republicans control the White House and both sides of Congress, although Senate procedural rules require them to get support from a handful of Democrats for most bills in the upper chamber.
But Democrats are smarting over Trump’s cuts, which have shredded entire sections of government and seen Congress bypassed in what critics and some judges have called an unconstitutional exercise of the White House’s power. The cuts have been announced by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Trump’s advisor and top donor, mega-billionaire Elon Musk. Infuriated by what they see as the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s lawless rampage through the federal bureaucracy, backbench Democrats wanted their leaders to fight hard against DOGE and Trump — particularly by withdrawing cooperation in the funding fight.
But Schumer argued in his op-ed that a shutdown would have allowed Musk and Trump to “destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.” “Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have wide-ranging authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel nonessential, furloughing staff members with no promise they would ever be rehired,” Schumer argued. Shutdowns are rare but disruptive and costly, as everyday functions like food inspections halt and parks, monuments and federal buildings shut up shop. Up to 900,000 federal employees can be furloughed, while another million deemed essential — from air traffic controllers to police — work but forego pay until normal service resumes.
Trump praised Schumer for having the “guts” to do “the right thing” in a Truth Social post that hailed “a whole new direction and beginning” for the country. Success for the funding bill will come as a relief to Schumer, who was struggling to keep the Senate Democrats together under a barrage of criticism from his own side. Patty Murray, the top Democrat in the funding negotiations, called the House bill a “dumpster fire” while leftist former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said it would “take food out of the mouths of hungry children.” More than 100 activists gathered for an early morning demonstration in front of Schumer’s Brooklyn high-rise, shouting “Chuck betrayed us” and “Dems — don’t be chickens in a coup.”
Although final passage for the bill now looks inevitable, getting it to Trump’s desk in time to avoid a shutdown starting could still be fraught with pitfalls.
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
