LEESBURG, VA — The spending bill fight threatens to divide congressional Democrats despite House lawmakers insisting they are “united” in protecting working-class people from President Donald Trump and standing up to GOP policies.
House Democrats almost unanimously rejected the Republican-led continuing resolution on Tuesday, and leadership is hopeful Senate Democrats will do the same.
“We’re asking Senate Democrats to vote no on this continuing resolution, which is not clean, and it makes cuts across the board,” Caucus Vice Chairman Ted Lieu (D-CA) said during the first presser of the party’s 2025 Issues Conference. “And it’s going to be one of those things where people are going to look at this vote, and every bad thing that now happens with DOGE and Donald Trump, Elon Musk, is going back to this vote.”
While the Senate holds the CR in its hands, House Democrats traveled around 45 miles away from Washington, D.C., to Leesburg, Virginia, at the Lansdowne Resort to hold its three-day retreat. The theme? “United to Win.”
However, Senate Democrats could sow division within the party if they decide to vote for the CR. The bill puts the upper chamber Democrats between a rock and a hard place: do they vote for a spending bill rejected by their blue colleagues, or do they reject it and risk party-wide blame on the Democrats for a government shutdown?
House leadership’s cries that the caucus is “united” are already on thin ice. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) was the sole Democrat who voted for the CR at the last minute. Several other swing-district and conservative Democrats weighed their options for most of the voting time before eventually voting “no.”
The CR, which raises defense spending by about $8 billion and lowers nondefense spending by about $13 billion, is one of several contentious votes Republicans will force Democrats to take. GOP campaign arms are already targeting vulnerable Democrats who rejected the spending bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other leaders spent the last week arguing that the spending bill “rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans.” He frequently told reporters that if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) planned to bring the bill to the floor, he should expect to pass it without the help of Democrats.
But the Senate is not so simple. Due to the filibuster, the spending bill requires 60 senators to vote in favor. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) already a “no,” Republicans need six Democrats to detract from the party to push the CR over the finish line. Among those six would likely be swing-state senators or conservative Democrats. Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) have indicated they may vote for the CR, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is already a “yes.”
Jeffries said Wednesday that there are “ongoing conversations” with Senate Democrats “from leadership all the way through the members.”
But, he said, “ [the] House Democratic position is crystal clear as evidenced by the strong vote of opposition that we took yesterday on the House floor opposing the Trump-Musk-Johnson reckless Republican spending bill.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) told reporters that Democrats may be looking at a seven-day continuing resolution. Other reports indicate they may move forward with Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) 30-day CR plan as it is becoming evident that there aren’t enough votes for a cloture procedural vote. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters Democrats want amendments and won’t vote on cloture unless they are promised.
If Senate Democrats ultimately vote in favor of the CR, it will fracture House leaders’ argument that the party is united. This would be another blow to their messaging strategy, which has taken numerous hits since the 2024 election — most recently after demonstrations at Trump’s joint address and awkward social media posts.
Trump himself said on Wednesday that Democrats have “no clue.”
“They don’t know what’s happening in the real world,” the president said. “The Democrats have to get their act together.”
That opinion is trickling down to everyday Americans as Democrats struggle to find a coherent, consistent message.
A poll from the Democratic group Navigator Research found that just 27% of the public believe Democrats are focused on helping them, with only 39% believing Democrats have the right priorities.
One of the researchers is scheduled to present the poll’s findings to House Democratic members and staff while at the retreat. Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Andy Beshear (D-KY), and Josh Shapiro (D-PA), whose states went for Trump in the 2024 election, are also expected to speak to the caucus on “their approaches to governing a state that President Trump carried in 2024.”
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Leadership, however, is not backing down from its unity message, and they are confident that this three-day retreat will get the caucus back on track.
“Each and every day, we show we’re united for everyday Americans,” Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said. “Now we’re going to continue to work with our members and talk about ideas and strategies on how we show that, how we demonstrate that.”