If Senate Democrats oppose Trump’s budget, why are they considering providing Republicans with the needed votes to invoke cloture?
In the first real showdown since the election, Senate Democrats seem poised to give President Donald Trump and Elon Musk everything they want while pretending to oppose the Republican spending bill. The proposed maneuver would allow Democrats to feign opposition to the new administration’s power grab while giving the GOP enough votes to push their agenda through.
Senate Republicans do not have enough votes for cloture, a legislative procedure to end debate and move for a vote. Republicans only have a 53-47 seat majority, and 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture. If Democrats don’t provide enough votes for cloture, the government is almost certainly headed toward a shutdown Friday.
Despite promising a fight, Senate Democrats are reportedly considering a vote swap. In exchange for providing enough votes to end debate on the GOP spending bill, Senate Republicans would allow a Democratic amendment to continue to fund the government at current levels for the next month to come to the floor, known as a continuing resolution, or CR. The Democratic amendment is almost certain to fail.
Democrats opposed to the GOP bill would then be allowed to vote “no” on the broader spending bill, allowing them to seem like they’re voting against the GOP measure despite providing the needed support to bring it to the floor. Democrats have criticized the GOP plan, which would give Musk and Trump more power to slash the federal government and also cut $1 billion from Washington, D.C.’s local budget.