Senate Democrats dropped their push for a vote on an amendment to the GOP’s continuing resolution that would keep the government open for another four weeks without major changes, two sources confirmed to TPM.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) has been calling for passage of a continuing resolution that would fund the government for an additional 28 days. Some Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) earlier in the week — floated demanding a vote on the bill as an amendment to the GOP CR but, per a source familiar, Murray wanted the vote to be called off since it would fail, only serve a theatrical purpose and not affect the outcome of the vote on the GOP CR.
Murray is still separately pushing for the month-long CR.
While its chances of passage as an amendment have been low, it provided a potential rallying point — or at least political cover — for Democrats who want to keep the government open without ratifying the extreme demands contained in the bill passed by the House GOP. That funding bill includes a provision that would cut D.C. government funding by around $1 billion, and other measures that could legitimize the mass purges of government workers that DOGE has undertaken during Trump’s first weeks in office.
The amendment also served as a potential compromise: the government would stay open at current funding levels for four weeks, potentially giving legislators more time to reach a deal on the budget.
But the momentum for such a compromise only ever existed among Democrats. Republicans never showed any real interest in the proposal, instead pushing forward the House Republican CR that will keep the government funded for another seven months.
Schumer said Thursday night that he would help Republicans pass their CR due to his concerns about a potentially particularly painful shutdown.
“A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. They can stay in a shutdown as long as they want. There is no off ramp,” Schumer said Friday morning.
While it’s expected that a handful of Democrats will join Schumer, the vote is still in limbo as of Friday afternoon with a few public yeses, a few silent undecideds and the majority of the caucus who are public no votes.
