Schumer Loses This Game of Chicken
President Trump and the GOP get their six-month Continuing Resolution passed.
It’s that time of year again when Congress passes a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. This round of antics has been especially interesting because Republicans have a (slim) majority in both the House and the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson was able to herd his fractious GOP cats into passing this CR, keeping government spending at 2024 levels until September 30. The CR then sailed right through the Senate, right?
Wrong.
Enter Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who attempted to throw a wrench in the spending plan. Schumer had earlier declared that the Republicans wouldn’t have the votes in the Senate because he planned to use the filibuster. To break a filibuster, the Republicans, who have 53 seats, need 60 votes for cloture, meaning some Democrats would have to cross the aisle.
The drama built with the Friday deadline looming ever nearer. But then, Schumer blinked. He backed off his threat, and on Friday night, the CR overcame the filibuster with a cloture vote of 62-38. Only a simple majority was needed for final passage, which ended up being 54-46. Senator Rand Paul voted against the CR, while two Democrats joined the other 52 Republicans to advance the legislation and prevent a partial government shutdown.
Why did Schumer cave on his threat to quash the CR? Well, ultimately, a government shutdown would backfire on the Democrats in two ways. First, it would allow President Donald Trump to declare who was an essential government worker, and the Department of Government Efficiency would have a heyday with cutting back more bureaucratic bloat. Second, by owning the government shutdown, Schumer would have hurt the already limping Democrat Party in the midterms. No one wants to be the reason for a government shutdown.
Schumer gave this statement explaining his reasons for backtracking: “While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse. … I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option. … I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people. Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.”
.@SenSchumer (D-NY): “While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse … Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down.” pic.twitter.com/1IkuJqOObr
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 13, 2025
The Democrat voters are furious. So furious, in fact, that 11 people were arrested for illegally protesting outside Schumer’s office on Friday. Online, there are plenty of people calling for him to step down and for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to primary him.
Raise your hand ✋ if you would support AOC running a primary challenge against Chuck Schumer in 2028! pic.twitter.com/ZZkKTcPFo2
— Jon Stewart for President 2028 (DEM TEA PARTY) (@Stewart_2028) March 15, 2025
Meanwhile, Democrat members of Congress sent an angry letter to Schumer, urging him to change his stance and hold firm against the CR because Americans “sent Democrats to Congress to fight against Republican dysfunction and chaos.”
It seems that the Democrats are definitely on their heels politically at the moment, and this latest attempted standoff is yet another example.
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