Ten Senate Democrats voted Friday to help Republicans break a 60-vote filibuster and advance a Trump-backed government funding bill that paves the way for Congress to avoid a midnight shutdown deadline.
The vote came at a steep price for Democrats, with the party shattering over Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to support advancing the measure. Schumer’s decision resulted in calls from several congressional Democrats to oust him as minority leader and to primary any Democrats who sided with Republicans over what critics say was a failure to hold the line against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Schumer and other Democrats who voted to advance the stopgap spending bill cited fears a shutdown would only further enable Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE to slash federal jobs and programs. The Senate Democratic Caucus is expected to vote in unison against final passage, which will only require a simple majority.
Here are the Democrats who voted to break a filibuster and why they did so.
Schumer to reporters: “[Republicans] could keep us in a shutdown for months and months and months. That is a really important point. There is no off-ramp. Anyone who thinks there might be an off-ramp knows it depends on the Republicans, and I don’t trust them at all. I think they want a shutdown, and I think they want to use a shutdown to decimate the federal government.”
Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) in a statement: “With Donald Trump and Elon Musk taking a chainsaw to the federal government’s workforce and illegally freezing federal funding, the last thing we need to do is plunge our country into further chaos and turmoil by shutting down the government.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), chairwoman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, did not respond to a request for comment.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) to reporters: “Any party should never shut the government down. That’s front and center. That’s politics 101. For me, I would think if we do that, that would be a gift for the Republicans … Millions and millions of Americans are going to be impacted by shutting the government down.”
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), former chairman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, in a statement: “I voted to move this process forward and give the Senate a chance to take a vote so that agencies remain open and providing services, independent watchdogs can stay on the job, and Democrats can keep fighting in both Congress and in the courts to stop Republican tax cuts for billionaires and President Trump’s harmful agenda.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to reporters: “I’m going to vote against a government shutdown. It would be devastating for Americans. It would cause too many Americans to suffer. They would lose their jobs, from the military to nurses to so many across this country … It would even give Donald Trump and this unelected billionaire more authority to pick and choose — he can cherry-pick which agencies that he wants to open. He can cherry-pick who gets paid, who gets fired, who gets their job back.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) in a statement: “President Trump and Elon Musk, who have already taken delight in making our government more chaotic and corrupt, would revel in a federal government shutdown. They would decide which programs to keep running and which employees to furlough or fire altogether, and they would do all this with even fewer checks and balances in place than there are now, because a shutdown would weaken our federal court system.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in a statement: “Playing into Republicans’ hands by allowing the government to shut down would give Elon Musk and President Trump unchecked power to continue dismantling the federal government. I will not stand by and allow that to happen.”
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: WHAT HAPPENS IF CONGRESS DOESN’T PASS A STOPGAP SPENDING BILL
Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with Democrats, in a video statement: “It’s not just a question of vote ‘no’ and fight and defeat the Republicans. If we do that, it could be a disastrous victory because we would end up with a shutdown that would enable the president and the administration to do even more damage to the government than they are today.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) did not respond to a request for comment.
