Just Days Away From Shutdown, Senate Democrats Oppose Republican Budget
House legislation would damage the federal government too much, senators say
Just days before the federal government is set to shut down, Senate Democrats are lining up against the budget bill that passed out of the Republican-led House.
An increasing number of Democratic senators are saying that the budget bill crafted by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson would allow too much of the damage already inflicted on federal programs by Donald Trump and his billionaire advisor, Elon Musk.
The government is set to run out of money late Friday if Congress and Trump don’t agree on future federal funding.
The House narrowly passed its budget bill, 217-213.
However, it cuts spending on nondefense programs and gives Trump more authority on spending the funds at a time when he and Musk — with the team known as “DOGE” — are disrupting and dismantling entire federal agencies with indiscriminate firings of federal workers.
With the bill moved to the Senate, at least eight Democrats will have to vote for it to advance the legislation because one Republican — Sen Rand Paul, of Kentucky — is on-record against it.
Sen Chris Coons, of Delaware, is a Democrat voting “no.”
“We’ve got a tough choice in front of us here in the Senate, but it’s important to remember that President Trump and Elon Musk — for the 50 days that they’ve been in office, or that Trump’s been in office and Musk has been running the government —is they’ve been shutting it down piecemeal,” he said. “Just yesterday, they announced a forced layoff of half of the folks at the Department of Education. That’s bad news for any American who cares about education for disabled children, about higher education, about a skilled workforce. They’ve been laying off people at the Social Security Administration, Veterans Agency, EPA, lots of different federal services that help keep us safer and stronger.
“I’m going to vote against what came over from the House Republicans to the Senate last night, because I don’t want to give my vote to support what Trump and Musk are doing,” Coons added. “I do think there’s real risks to a government shutdown. So I respect those who are saying they are concerned that President Trump will go even further if we hand him that possibility. But what’s come over, which is often called a clean [continuing resolution] in the talk of the Congress, is not clean, it’s dirty. It’s got lots of provisions that will make cuts and harm organizations and communities all over our country.”
Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also spoke out against the House Republicans’ budget proposal, going as far as labeling it a “shutdown bill” in remarks on the Senate floor.
In particular, Warren pointed out that the House’s proposed bill would 1) wipe out the guardrails that Congress wrote for how to spend taxpayer money, making it easier for President Trump and Elon Musk to pick and choose which federal programs remain funded; and 2) add $6 billion to the Pentagon while slashing funding for programs that American families rely on, and cutting funding for local projects that improve hospitals, teaching facilities, and childcare centers.
“A budget is a reflection of our values. This proposal makes crystal clear where Republicans’ values lie,” Warren said. “After months of bipartisan talks, they’re walking away from the negotiating table and offering a non-starter House bill that forces us to the brink of a full government shutdown.
“And who would that hurt the most? Working people. Billionaires win, families lose. Republicans’ values are clear,” she added.
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