The last time Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threatened to withhold Democratic votes and force a government shutdown, it ended in a bitter internal feud that, at one point, seemed it might cost him his job.
Now, just four months later, Schumer may be headed down a similar path that could spark more Democratic fury.
As he tries to stop Republicans from approving a $9.4 billion batch of President Donald Trump’s spending cuts, GOP senators see Schumer’s threat that Democrats will retaliate by not funding the government this fall as a bluff. Republicans are placing early bets that this latest shutdown talk will lead to the same conclusion: Schumer caving.
“I don’t take it serious,” Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), a centrist Republican with a bipartisan streak, told the Washington Examiner. “Everybody knows a ‘Schumer shutdown’ is too easy to brand, and I can’t imagine that he wants that brand. He’d be walking right into it.”
For their part, Democrats have but one main tool in their limited arsenal as the minority party: the 60-vote filibuster. However, the White House’s rescissions bill, which Senate Republicans aim to pass next week after amending the House-passed version, requires only a simple majority.
Democrats see Republicans as the ones picking a funding feud by trying to roll back money Congress has already appropriated for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.
“It’s fundamentally changing the way the government is supposed to function. That kind of poisons the well a bit here,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a battleground state Democrat also known for his work across the aisle. “How do we do our jobs when the president’s just going to undo our work? That’s not right.”
Still, Schumer remains under immense pressure to show his frustrated base that Democrats are doing whatever they can to combat Trump after blinking first in the prior shutdown showdown and on the heels of Republicans passing the president’s marquee One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“It’s absurd to expect Democrats to play along with funding the government if Republicans are just going to renege on a bipartisan agreement by concocting rescissions packages behind doors without the customary 60 votes required in the appropriations process,” Schumer said in recent Senate floor remarks.
In March, Schumer and nine other Democrats gave Republicans the votes they needed to fund the government out of fear that GOP leaders could have allowed a shutdown to carry on indefinitely. But that didn’t stop a Democratic revolt, including demands for Schumer to step down as leader and renewed calls for a more liberal primary challenger in 2028.
While many Democrats are behind his latest strategy, there’s at least some angst in the party over using a maneuver Schumer has consistently blasted Republicans in the past for threatening.
“I refuse to ever vote for anything that would shut the government down. It was wrong when they threatened to shut the government down,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told the Washington Examiner. “That’s our core responsibility: to keep the government working.”
No matter which side may have begun what has quickly descended into another Capitol Hill blame game, Congress has until Oct. 1 to achieve one of two scenarios: pass the annual budget or some sort of funding measure, or face a government shutdown.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME), a key figure in any government funding fight and a centrist with a battleground reelection next year, gave little weight to Schumer’s rhetoric.
“Sen. Schumer has never been a strong supporter of the appropriations process,” Collins said, citing his decision to advance one large bill rather than individual funding bills when he was the majority leader. “It’s no surprise to me that he is once again trying to create difficulties for the Appropriations Committee.”
SCHUMER TEES UP EARLY BLAME GAME WITH GOP OVER GOVERNMENT FUNDING FEUD
When the Washington Examiner asked Collins whether she could continue effectively crafting the annual budget despite escalating tensions, Collins pointed to her panel’s latest meeting. Hours earlier, members advanced two tranches of funds that comprise the 12-bill budget, passing the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill unanimously and the Legislative Branch appropriations bill 26-1.
The committee’s negotiations over the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, however, did end in a stalemate over a long-standing battle to relocate the FBI headquarters. Lawmakers promised to revisit the subject at a later date.