SENATE DEMOCRATS GROW SPINES - GOVERNMENT WILL SHUT DOWN FRIDAY - UPDATED

MAGA Mike just lost his bet that he could steamroll Senate Democrats into gooing along to get along on the CR by sending his members home today, leaving the Senate with the choice of voting for the HOuse bill with no changes, or shutting down the government at midnight on Friday.

And he lost the bet to Chuck Shumer.

Shumer announced: “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. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11^th CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.

Since the House is now in recess and cannot be called back in time to vote on a revised CR, the government will shut down at midnight on Friday.

The onus for this will be on the Republicans, for being unwilling to negotiate, and for having not dealt with the Democrats at all in creating the Continuing Resolution.

For much of this week, it was looking like some Senate Democrats were so afraid of being blamed for a government shutdown that eight would cave and help Republicans reach the 60-vote threshold to pass the resolution.

However, we in the Democratic rank and file have made it clear that we would not tolerate Democrats helping Trump as he dismantles the federal government.

The pressure worked, which is why we the American people must keep it up.

Unless some magic happens over the next two days, it looks like Krasnov’s strategy will backfire and cause a government shutdown.

Every. Thing. Krasnov. Touches. Dies.

UPDATE:

Democrats head toward the Friday deadline trying to reckon with a problem few in the conference fully know how to wrap their arms around: a no-win situation, with every avenue available being equally thorny.

They came out of their Wednesday luncheon and announced they would present a 30-day CR, to allow further negotiations. The 30-day CR, however, is almost certainly not viable. And while Senate Democrats said Wednesday they won’t vote to advance Republicans’ bill, pressure on them will only increase. The House isn’t slated to be back until March 24, leaving Senate Democrats few options beyond eating the GOP’s stopgap measure or allowing the government to shut down.

On the legislative side, the party believes the Republican-led CR, which largely funds the government through the end of September at levels set under the Biden administration, only gives President Trump and Elon Musk further control over a government workforce they have sought to slash since coming into office.

And while Republicans cast their bill as a “clean” CR, Democrats note that it includes $13 billion in cuts to nondefense spending that Democrats warn will impact federal housing, nutrition and health care programs, among others.

However, Democrats are also acutely aware of the optics of forcing a government shutdown, which would make them party to more than 2 million government workers being furloughed without pay. They would also likely receive at least some of the blame for a shutdown, potentially putting Senate Democrats — especially those in swing states — in political peril going into 2026.

Trump is well known for being unpredictable, and how he handles a shutdown is giving Democrats heartburn. A shutdown would put the Office of Management and Budget in charge of determining what personnel are considered essential and nonessential during its course. Senate Republicans could also hypothetically force vote after vote to reopen the government, giving them further headaches in the process.

Eight Democrats are needed to back the year-long CR. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is the lone member of the conference to indicate support for it. If others don’t follow, Republicans have made clear they will make this painful for the minority party.

“If Democrats choose to shut down the government, they’re going to own it lock, stock and barrel,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said.

It’s going to be an interesting 48 hours.

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