Government Shutdown: Trump Tells Schumer ‘Congratulations’ For Letting GOP Spending Bill Pass

Topline

President Donald Trump issued a “congratulations” to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Friday, seemingly mocking the Senate minority leader after Schumer said Thursday he’ll vote in favor of advancing a Republican bill to avert a government shutdown, even though House Democrats almost unanimously opposed the measure.

Key Facts

Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social, “congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing,” calling his plan to vote for the bill a “really good and smart move,” taunting Schumer—who Trump insulted earlier in the week by claiming he’s “not Jewish” and is “a Palestinian”—after he agreed to back the bill under threat from Republicans to blame Democrats for a shutdown if they didn’t approve it.

Schumer on Thursday said allowing the government to shut down would be a “distraction” for Democrats trying to combat Trump’s agenda and would only serve to benefit Trump and his chief cost-cutter Elon Musk, though he has also criticized Republicans for choosing “a partisan path” and drafting the bill “without any input” from Democrats.

The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation Friday, hours before the shutdown deadline, after the House approved the resolution in a 217-213 vote Tuesday, with one Republican, Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., voting against the legislation and one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voting for it.

Seven Senate Democrats need to side with all 53 Republicans in order to reach the 60-vote threshold to break the filibuster and pass the resolution that would keep the government up and running through September by largely extending the existing spending plan.

Senate Democrats are reportedly grappling with the decision whether to shut down the government—exposing them to attacks from Republicans and the potential even more government employees furloughed without pay could quit their jobs amid Trump’s mass layoff effort—or approve a bill written by the GOP that some Democrats have said gives the Trump administration broad leeway to dictate government spending, including freezing some funds, without congressional guardrails.

Crucial Quote

“A shutdown is uncharted territory when you've got an administration that, at least in some ways, probably would welcome a shutdown because that would give the president almost unlimited power in deciding who’s essential, who’s nonessential, holding up agencies,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told reporters Wednesday, calling it “a choice between two terrible alternatives.”

Chief Critic

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urged Senate Democrats to vote against the measure, in defiance of Schumer, in a statement Friday that said “Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check.” She said Senate Democrats should “listen to the women,” referring to Senate Appropriations Committee member Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House budget committee member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oppose the Republica House bill.

Key Background

The House on Tuesday approved the bill that will keep fiscal year 2024 spending levels largely in place through the end of September, with a $13 billion cut to nondefense spending and a $6 billion increase in defense spending. Some Republicans who typically oppose what are known as “continuing resolutions”—or short-term measures to extend the existing spending plan to avert a shutdown and give Congress time to negotiate a new budget—citing a need for more cuts, said they agreed to support the bill given the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce. Trump urged all Republicans to unite behind the bill, and blasted Massie repeatedly, promising to back a primary challenge against him, when he refused to cave to Trump’s demands.

Further Reading

House Approves Spending Bill Ahead Of Government Shutdown Deadline (Forbes)

Trump Feuds With ‘Grandstander’ GOP Rep. Massie For Defying Anti-Government Shutdown Bill (Forbes)