Schumer signals support for considering spending plan

CONGRESS

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, walks with Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., as Senate Democrats gather behind closed doors to mount a last-ditch protest over a Republican-led stopgap spending bill that already passed the House. J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON >> Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer signaled privately Thursday he’s ready to start the process of considering a Republican-led government funding bill, as Democrats are fiercely divided under pressure to impose limits on the Trump administration on the eve of a shutdown deadline.

Schumer told Democrats at a spirited closed-door lunch that he would be voting to proceed to the bill when it comes up Friday, which will be hours before the midnight deadline. His comments, first reported by The New York Times, were confirmed by two people familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.

““People have strong views on both sides,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who is opposed to the package.

The move by Schumer brings a potential resolution to what has been a dayslong standoff. Senate Democrats have mounted a last-ditch protest over the package, which already passed the House but without slapping any limits they were demanding on President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to gut federal operations.

The Democrats are under intense pressure to do whatever they can to stop the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is taking a wrecking ball to long-established government agencies and purging thousands of federal workers from jobs.

Trump himself offered to wade in Thursday to negotiate: “If they need me, I’m there 100%.”

But the president also began casting blame on Democrats for any potential disruptions, saying during an Oval Office meeting, “If it shuts down, it’s not the Republicans’ fault.”

Democrats are pushing a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative. But its prospects are dim in the Congress controlled by Republicans. And it’s unlikely the Democrats would allow a government shutdown, worried about the further chaos they say Trump and Musk could cause.

As the Senate opened Thursday, with one day to go before Friday’s midnight deadline, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “It’s time for Democrats to fish or cut bait.”

Debates over funding the federal government routinely erupt in deadline moments, but this year it’s showing the political leverage of Republicans, newly in majority control of the White House and Congress, and the shortcomings of Democrats who are finding themselves unable to stop the Trump administration’s march across federal operations.