The U.S. Senate voted by a 62-38 margin to advance House Republicans' government funding bill on Friday, staving off a government shutdown but almost certainly giving President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a major legislative victory assuming the final vote gets majority support.
According to Gizmodo reporter Matt Novak, nine Democrats voted with all 53 Republicans on the cloture motion for H.R. 1968, which keeps government agencies funded through the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2025. Funding levels are mostly similar to levels under former President Joe Biden's administration, save for $13 billion in non-defense budget cuts and an additional $6 billion for the Pentagon. Funding for Washington D.C.'s local government was also slashed by roughly $1 billion.
The Democratic support for the legislation came about after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed the GOP spending plan Thursday night as a means of avoiding a prolonged shutdown of federal agencies. But Michael Steele — the former chairman of the Republican National Committee — argued in a recent MSNBC interview that it was "absolutely galling" to see the Senate Democratic leader "wave the white flag" and back Republicans' bill.
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"So Chuck Schumer comes out and tells us, 'oh my God, it would be much worse if, you know, a government shutdown.' That is absolutely true — if this was ten years ago. If this was 15 years ago," Steele said. "But Chuck, how many federal employees are now currently unemployed by this president and are still losing their job?"
House Democrats were united in their opposition save for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who only voted in favor of the bill after Republicans secured 217 votes. While Senate Democrats were mostly against the bill and were willing to shut the government down in order to force Republicans back to the negotiating table, Schumer argued passage was necessary, and that a government shutdown was the worse of two options. But Steele pointed out that Congressional Republicans have already indicated that they plan to cede the power of the purse to Trump and let him slash agency budgets without their input. And he reminded New York's senior U.S. senator that the damage he warned would happen under a shutdown was already happening.
"They've already told you: 'It doesn't matter what you're going to what this bill is. We're going to do what we want to do.' They're not going to stick to what's outlined in this in the budgetary requirements here," he continued. "I mean, they are firing people as we speak!"
"I mean, look, all facets of our life and our and our connection to the services and the things that our government provides for us are being disrupted and broken. So I don't understand where Chuck thought this would get better," he added. "When you wave the white flag, it tells me you're weak. It tells me you cannot make a simple argument and hold the people who are doing, who've already done what they've done, accountable for that ... I understand the frustration of a lot of Democrats. I'm just looking at this from a political perspective. I'm just saying, 'hey, if this is my political leadership inside the party, it's weak!'"
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Watch the video of Steele's comments below, or by clicking this link.