Congress handed Donald Trump a victory Friday in the form of a bill to avert a government shutdown, expanding the president’s control over the federal budget and infuriating Democrats.
The Senate voted 54-46 to approve the House-passed temporary funding fix, a partisan measure that was crafted by Speaker Mike Johnson with input from Trump, sending it to the White House for the president’s signature.
A number of Democrats joined Republicans in passing the bill after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer opted to drop his demand for a bipartisan 30-day measure, sparking outrage from Democrats in both chambers of Congress.
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a longtime friend and colleague of Schumer, repudiated the New York senator’s decision, saying, “This false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.”
But Schumer said Republicans were the ones who “pushed this false shutdown choice.”
He called the politically volatile situation “a Hobson’s choice”—one that would be costly and detrimental to everyday Americans. Schumer argued Trump could do more damage in the darkness with the lights out.
“I believe that allowing Donald Trump to take even more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” he said.
The bill’s passage marks a significant win for Trump and Johnson, who increased pressure on the Senate by sending House members home after their bill passed, effectively forcing the upper chamber’s hand.
Democrats criticized the bill for increasing defense spending by roughly $6 billion while cutting approximately $13 billion in non-defense spending, including to entitlement programs. The bill also includes additional funding for ICE to support Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
While Schumer condemned the legislation, he argued that preventing a government shutdown was the greater priority to avoid giving Trump and Elon Musk more influence over budgetary decisions—or “power of the purse,” which, under the Constitution, falls to Congress.
Trump and Musk have seized that authority, unilaterally slashing federal programs and employees as Republican lawmakers have yielded control to the executive branch since Trump’s return to power.
“The shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. It would give Donald Trump and DOGE the keys to the city, the state and the country. And that is a far worse alternative,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Friday.
Schumer’s stance faced backlash from within his own party. Some Democrats have floated the idea of a primary challenge, with progressives encouraging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to challenge the 74-year-old Democratic leader for his Senate senate when he’s up for re-election in 2028.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) declined to state whether he still had confidence in Schumer to lead Senate Democrats. “Next question,” he said when asked.
“Democratic senators should listen to the women. Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep the government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement,” Pelosi said.
While several Democrats who opposed the measure continue to stand by Schumer, some say they want answers on how they could have better strategized to secure more legislative victories.
“I think any time you have a failure—and this is a failure altogether—we as a caucus owe it to Democrats, our country and our constituents to look back and see: How do we get ourselves in this situation?” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said.
