U.S. Senate Democrats plan to reject GOP's funding bill as shutdown deadline draws near

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Wednesday that Democrats would oppose the stopgap government funding bill passed by the Republican-controlled House, raising uncertainty about whether Congress can prevent a shutdown before the Friday night deadline.

On Tuesday, the House approved a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through the end of September, by a vote of 217-213.

One Republican voted against the bill, while one Democrat voted in favor, with the remaining lawmakers voting along their respective party lines.

Although the Republican Party currently holds a majority in the Senate, it only controls 53 out of the 100 seats. Since the vice president typically only casts a vote in the event of a tie, the Republicans need to gain the support of eight Democratic senators in order to secure 60 votes and overcome any potential filibuster -- an extended debate or delay tactic used by senators to block or delay legislative action.

"Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input -- any input -- from congressional Democrats," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

"Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR," Schumer said, calling for a one-month funding bill that provides more time for the two parties to negotiate a deal.

Invoking cloture is a parliamentary procedure used in the U.S. Senate to bring a debate to an end and proceed to a final vote on a bill or nomination. The process is designed to overcome a filibuster.

The last time the U.S. House passed a short-term spending bill was in December 2024, hours before federal government funding was set to run out. The Senate approved the bill shortly after the midnight deadline. The bill allowed the federal government to maintain current spending levels until March 14.

If a new spending plan is not passed in a timely manner by both chambers of Congress, parts of the federal government will face a "shutdown."

Government funds are typically supposed to come from annual budget appropriations, and U.S. Congress should usually pass new annual appropriations bills before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.

However, due to intense partisan conflicts in recent years, agreement is often not reached in time, prompting Congress to repeatedly pass short-term spending bills to temporarily keep the federal government running.