The Senate voted primarily along party lines on Friday to pass the House Republican-drafted bill funding the government through September, narrowly avoiding a shutdown just hours before the deadline.
President Trump is expected to sign the measure into law.
The final vote stood at 54-46, with two Democratic caucus members—Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is set to retire at the end of her term, and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats—siding with Republicans. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against the bill.
With the passage of this legislation, Congress will not have to address government funding again until the fall. This clears the path for Republicans to focus on advancing Trump’s policy agenda, including securing funds for border security and extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The House narrowly approved the spending bill on Tuesday with a 217-213 vote, with only one Democrat supporting it.
The bill’s passage in the Senate followed intense internal debate among Senate Democrats, as the package had been crafted in the House without any Democratic input.
The legislation increases defense spending by $6 billion while boosting funds for border enforcement. However, it also includes a $13 billion cut to nondefense spending.
A key concern for many Democrats was the absence of language directing the Trump administration on how to allocate these funds. Some Democratic lawmakers feared this would enable Trump and his advisors to redirect money according to their own priorities, rather than congressional intent.
Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, urged their colleagues to reject the House’s proposal in favor of a clean 30-day stopgap funding measure.
Merkley strongly opposed the House bill, telling CNN he was “hell no” on supporting it.
He argued that passing the Republican-crafted legislation would only serve to embolden Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
“You don’t stop a bully by handing over your lunch money, and you don’t stop a tyrant by giving him more power,” Merkley said.
Leading progressives, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), joined the push to defeat the bill, rallying progressive activists against it.
Only centrist Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) openly supported advancing the House bill early on, cautioning that a government shutdown could cause chaos and potentially push the country into a recession.
Throughout the week, Senate Democrats held lengthy lunch meetings to deliberate their approach to the funding impasse. The discussions became so heated that senators’ raised voices could be heard through the thick oak doors of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room, located just off the Senate floor.
With Senate Republicans holding 53 seats, they needed at least eight Democratic votes to break a filibuster and proceed to a final vote—especially after Paul announced his opposition to the House bill.
Filibuster rules typically require 60 votes to advance controversial legislation.
House Republicans, after passing their funding bill on Tuesday, adjourned and made it clear they would not return to Washington before the Friday deadline.
This left Senate Democrats in a difficult position—if they blocked the House bill, a government shutdown was almost inevitable.
The bill’s fate remained uncertain until Thursday, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on the Senate floor that he would support advancing the measure.
Schumer acknowledged the bill was “very bad” but argued that a government shutdown would be “much, much worse.”
He warned that a shutdown would grant Trump and Musk “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.”
Schumer later told reporters that efforts to pass a clean 30-day stopgap funding bill failed to secure any Republican support.
Schumer’s decision prompted strong backlash from liberal Democrats, particularly Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who accused him of a “betrayal.”
“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters after learning of Schumer’s stance.
“And this is not just about progressive Democrats. This is across the board, the entire party,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez expressed frustration that House Democrats in competitive districts, where Trump won in 2024, had taken politically risky votes against the bill earlier in the week—only for Senate Democrats to give in.
She argued those vulnerable House Democrats “took a tough vote to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, just to see some Senate Democrats” give in to Musk’s demands.
“I think it is a huge slap in the face,” she said.
Fetterman, in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism, dismissed her concerns and questioned whether she had a viable strategy to end a government shutdown.
“I hope you can relay how little I care about her views on this,” Fetterman said when asked about her comments.
“I’m going to stand on what I happen to believe is the right thing to do, but ask her, ‘What’s the exit plan once we shut the government down?’ What about all the millions of Americans who are going to have their lives damaged?”
He also noted that federal employees would be affected by a shutdown, pointing out that Ocasio-Cortez would still receive her paycheck.
With Schumer’s support providing political cover, eight other Democrats ultimately voted to advance the bill.
Along with Schumer, those voting in favor included Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Shaheen, and Fetterman. King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, also voted to bring the measure to a final vote.
Before final passage, the Senate debated and rejected several proposed amendments.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) sponsored an amendment seeking to reinstate veterans who had been dismissed from federal jobs under Trump.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced an amendment to dismantle the Department of Government Efficiency.
Merkley put forward an amendment that would have reversed the $20 billion reduction in IRS tax enforcement funding, a provision inserted by House Republicans.
Paul also proposed an amendment that would have codified the Department of Government Efficiency’s recommended cuts to foreign aid.
Ultimately, Senate Republicans successfully blocked all Democratic amendments, while a bipartisan majority defeated Paul’s proposal. Any modifications to the bill would have required it to return to the House for final approval, delaying its enactment beyond the funding deadline.