Sen. Chuck Schumer Monday warned that Republicans are driving the nation toward a government shutdown and vowed Democrats will unite to push back against President Trump’s slash-and-burn spending cuts.
The Senate minority leader told fellow lawmakers he plans to use their leverage to slow or stop Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk from gutting crucial government programs.
“Senate Democrats will use our votes to help steady the ship for the American people in these turbulent times,” Schumer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter. “It is incumbent on responsible Republicans to get serious and work in a bipartisan fashion to avoid a Trump shutdown.”
Schumer accused Trump and his GOP allies of choosing to try to ram through their agenda because they are “unwilling to do the hard work of bipartisan governance.”
“Trump has handed the keys of the presidency to his cronies, sycophants, and radicals who are hell-bent … to hollow out the government and cut off critical services to American communities across the country,” he said.
By stressing that Democrats oppose a shutdown, Schumer appeared to be pushing back against suggestions from some Democratic lawmakers that they might block a stopgap spending plan to protest Musk’s dramatic actions to kill entire agencies like USAID and threatening to fire government workers.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-New Jersey) said Sunday that he “cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness” when asked about a potential spending deal with the GOP.
Schumer laid out a multi-pronged approach to fighting back against Trump, including lawsuits, congressional investigations and the legislative process.
“A mere three weeks into the new Trump Administration and it is clear Trump’s promise of a ‘golden age’ for America seems to merely be glitter,” Schumer said.
He and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have significant leverage because Congress needs to pass a spending bill by March 15 or much of the government will shut down.
Even though Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, it won’t necessarily be easy for them to legislate. That’s because the GOP only has a three-vote edge in the House and 60 votes are needed to pass most laws in the Senate.
It’s unclear how Republicans plan to proceed, but they hope to pass big chunks of Trump’s agenda using the legislative sleight of hand known as reconciliation, which can be used to pass some laws with only a simple majority in the Senate.
But Republicans, especially in the House, are divided into factions, with some hoping to implement massive tax cuts for the wealthy while others hope to drastically cut government spending.
