Congress has until midnight tonight to avert a government shutdown.
WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats on March 14 are expected to help Republicans pass a House-approved bill to keep the government open, hours before a shutdown is set to begin.
After speculation about its fate in the upper chamber, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that he would reluctantly support invoking cloture on the legislation.
“I will vote to keep the government open and not shut down the government,” he said during a March 13 speech on the Senate floor.
President Donald Trump congratulated Schumer for “doing the right thing,” adding that the Senate minority leader’s decision took “’guts’ and courage.”
“A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning.
“Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer.”
The stopgap funding legislation, passed by the House on March 11 in a 217–213 vote, extends the government funding deadline from March 14 to Sept. 30, the final day of the fiscal year.
It increases defense spending by about $6 billion while cutting non-defense spending by $13 billion compared to last year’s levels. Overall, the measure reduces spending by about $7 billion from the previous year.
The Senate is due to hold procedural votes for the bill this afternoon. If successful, the legislation will proceed to a final Senate vote.
The legislation narrowly passed the lower chamber. The vote was mostly along party lines except for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted against it, and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who broke with his party to back it.
That immediately raised questions about its prospects in the Senate, where, like most legislation, the package would need to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold which requires bipartisan backing.
Senate Republicans
Most Senate Republicans are expected to vote for the package without much objection, including some swing-voting members. A handful haven’t committed.
In a statement, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)—who is facing a 2026 reelection bid in her blue-leaning New England state—announced that she would support the bill. “Our focus must be on preventing an unnecessary and costly government shutdown,” she said.
By Joseph Lord, Jackson Richman and Arjun Singh
