Relief as US Congress averts government shutdown
Washington, United States (AFP) March 14 - The United States averted a government shutdown with hours to spare Friday as lawmakers already reeling from President Donald Trump's radical federal spending cuts voted to keep the lights on through September.
Facing a midnight deadline to fund the government or allow it to start winding down, Democrats dropped plans for a blockade on a Trump-backed bill passed earlier this week by the House -- clearing its path for approval by the Republican-led Senate.
A view of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
"In their typical fashion, Senate Democrats engaged in political theater to delay the inevitable and cause instability," said Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
"Americans voted for change under President Trump and Republican leadership after four years of chaos. The government is funded, let's get back to work."
Democrats had been under immense pressure from their own grassroots to defy Trump and reject a text they said was full of harmful spending cuts.
But Chuck Schumer, their leader in the upper chamber, shocked his rank-and-file ahead of the crunch vote by announcing he would back the Republican-drafted proposal.
Ten Democrats -- worried that they would be blamed over a stoppage with no obvious exit ramp -- backed down from a showdown with Trump and allowed the bill to advance to a final floor vote, where it only needed Republican support.
The week's action in Congress marked a big victory for Trump, who turned the political thumbscrews on some holdouts among the fractious House Republicans -- effectively stamping out a rebellion that could have ushered in a shutdown.
The funding fight was focused on opposition to Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, which is working to dramatically downsize the government.
DOGE aims to cut federal spending by $1 trillion this year and claims to have made savings so far of more than $100 billion although its verified cost savings come to less than a tenth of that figure.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 14: U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) (C) speaks alongside Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) (L) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. House Democrats held the press conference to address Senate negotiations on the budget bill and their dismay over Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announcing he would break from his party and vote to move forward with the continuing resolution passed by House Republicans, providing a six-month funding extension to avert a government shutdown. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
- 'Betrayal' -
Grassroots Democrats, infuriated by what they saw as Musk's lawless rampage through the federal bureaucracy, wanted their leaders to stand up to DOGE and Trump.
Schumer warned, however, that a shutdown could play into Trump and Musk's hands, distracting from DOGE's most unpopular actions, which now include firing half the Education Department's workforce.
The veteran campaigner published an op-ed in The New York Times defending his decision to support the package, a U-turn that sparked an angry backlash from grassroots critics and House Democrats who accused him of "betrayal" and of "caving."
Schumer argued that a shutdown would have allowed Musk and Trump to "destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now."
"Under a shutdown, the Trump administration would have wide-ranging authority to deem whole agencies, programs and personnel nonessential, furloughing staff members with no promise they would ever be rehired," Schumer wrote.
Shutdowns are rare but disruptive and costly, as everyday functions like food inspections halt and parks, monuments and federal buildings shut up shop.
Up to 900,000 federal employees can be furloughed, while another million deemed essential -- from air traffic controllers to police -- work but forego pay until normal service resumes.
Trump praised Schumer for having "guts" in a Truth Social post that hailed "a whole new direction and beginning" for the country.
"I appreciate Senator Schumer, and I think he did the right thing. Really, I'm very impressed by that," he told reporters later.
Success for the funding bill will come as a relief to Schumer, who was struggling to keep Senate Democrats together under a barrage of criticism from his own side.
Patty Murray, the top Democrat in the funding negotiations, called the House bill a "dumpster fire."
More than 100 demonstrators gathered early Friday outside Schumer's Brooklyn high-rise, shouting "Chuck betrayed us" and "Dems -- don't be chickens in a coup."
