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Senate Republicans and Democrats have advanced their first spending bill through the Senate despite a Democrat signal that could block the government’s funding process.
In the days and weeks leading up to the vote, Senate Democrats warned that the passage of a highly partisan Republican bill, like President Donald Trump’s $9 billion clawback package, had eaten up the trust they could win the spending process.
When Thune asks for “cooperation” in a funding vote, Dems seeks retaliation for GOP cuts
Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. heads to the Senators to vote for the bill in Washington on January 22, 2025. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Still, after meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon, Democrats ultimately provided enough votes to advance the bill funding military construction and the VA. This vote allows lawmakers to make amendments and discuss the bill.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said after the meeting Democrats still wanted bipartisan spending contracts.
“We’re working together to get one,” Schumer said. “But the bottom line is that Republicans make it much more difficult. Rescue, water storage and pocket retirements are to directly undo this.”
The bill moved forward with 90-8 votes, with Schumer and the majority of Senate Democrats joining all Republicans and starting discussions on the bill.
Democrats were very unhappy with Trump’s retirement package last week, claiming it would cut funds from foreign aid and public broadcasters and would disrupt trust between the parties when it came to writing the spending bill.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Reuters)
They argued that once they reached an agreement on the fundraising bill, they would shatter confidence in their Republican colleagues and stick to their words, just to see their priorities being stripped later through rescue.
“There is no doubt,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital. “I mean, one day someone will do one thing and turn it back the next day. That clearly causes trust issues.”
Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. chose to call his counterpart bluff and place the bill on the floor. Without moving forward with the law, it could have preceded the rocky path by defeating the September 30 deadline to fund the government and avoid partial government shutdowns.
“Democrats have shown last week that they are very upset with last week’s retirement bill. By the way, it can cut 1% of all federal spending and somehow use it to shut down the spending process and therefore shut down the government,” Thune said.
“We think that’s a big mistake, and we hope they think about it better and work with us. [which] He continued.
Before the vote, Senate Budget Speaker Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged the bill to pass through procedural hurdles, and when Sen. Patty Murray, the panel’s top Democrat, took the helm of the committee, they “promised to work together” on the spending bill.
She said when Democrats controlled the Chamber of Commerce, lawmakers didn’t have the same opportunity to spend the bill, but they admitted it was still a “challenging legislative environment.”
“This is the fundamental responsibility of Congress and I would like to express my gratitude to Senator Tune, the Senate majority leader.
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Senator John Fetterman was in Boston on June 2, 2025 during the sixth article in the Senate project moderated by Fox News Anchor Shannon Bream in Boston. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
However, the passing of the first bill, and subsequent revision processes that lead to a final vote, do not guarantee that the spending process will go smoothly before a deadline hits in the coming months.
Congress has not passed spending bills through a process known as regular orders since the late 1990s, relying on a short government funding expansion, usually known as a continuous resolution, and a huge year-end spending package known as the omnibus.
Disagreements between the Senate and House of Representatives regarding funding levels, coupled with prolonged questions about whether Schumer will continue to play ball with Republicans, could lead to another showdown around the September deadline.
Schumer is House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Dn.Y., and Rosa Delaulo, D-Conn, top Democrats on the House and Senate Approval Committees. and said he is confident with top Democrats at Murray.
“There’s been so much effort ahead, and the government’s funding deadline is less than 25 days, and Republicans should focus on working with us for American families,” he said.
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The senator, who voted with Republicans and his Democrat colleagues earlier this year and voted with a few of his Democrats to stop the government from being partially shut down, sent a harsh message to Senate Democrats who might want to hamper the government’s fundraising process.
“We will never vote to shut down our government,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told Fox News Digital. “That’s a core responsibility. And now we may not like many of these changes for things, but I’m not, but I say that’s how democracy works.”
“And now, we’re shutting down the government, so how can we do that and put our country in chaos,” he continued.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital, which covers the US Senate.
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