Sept. 16, 2025, 7:54 p.m.
The government hasn’t shut down yet, but it feels like it’s heading that way. Both parties are already beginning to point the finger of blame, though there are still about two weeks until the lights go off.
At the epicenter of the drama is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is grappling with how to handle an impending shutdown—which would begin Sept. 30 at midnight—after Republican leadership unveiled legislative text that lacked Democrats’ demands on several fronts, particularly health care. But Senate GOP leadership has already put the preemptive blame on the Democratic leader if the continuing resolution lacks Democratic support.
“A government shutdown is bad for everyone. The cost of a Democrat shutdown is staggering,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said Tuesday. “Reopening the government again costs even more. And who pays the price of a ‘Schumer Shutdown’? It’s not the people in this room. It’s hardworking Americans.”
Notably, the continuing resolution did not include an extension of the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, are one of the main asks from Democrats in exchange for their votes to keep the government open.
Schumer punted on a shutdown fight in March and received plenty of grief from the Democratic base for doing so. Since then, he’s taken a much more confrontational approach to spending negotiations.
Schumer said Tuesday the dynamic is different than in March, when the workforce-slashing Department of Government Efficiency was in full swing and the minority leader felt a shutdown would give the Elon Musk-led organization even more rein to slash as it saw fit. He also says public opinion is on his side.
“The Republicans are in a much weaker position now than they were then,” Schumer said. “The [One Big Beautiful Bill], which they have passed, is highly unpopular with the American people.”
House and Senate Democratic leadership are reading from the same script this time, stressing that they are ready to play brinksmanship over extending the health care premium tax credits from the ACA. With little opposition coming from ultraconservative House Republicans who typically oppose stopgap spending measures, the final decision on a shutdown may again rest with Schumer.
However, GOP leadership in both chambers have been adamant on a “clean” continuing resolution with the aim to separate the funding battle from the health care fight—and the bill text signals an attempt to jam Democrats with a measure that leaves out one of their key demands.
Does the party that likes to portray itself as the responsible steward of good governance force a shutdown? Or does it take a principled stand to protect health care for millions?
Because of filibuster rules, Republicans need at least seven Democrats to vote with them to pass a CR that keeps the government operating.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is asking Democrats to go around Schumer and vote for the CR—91 pages that House GOP leadership unveiled on Tuesday—which would fund the government until Nov. 21 while lawmakers continue to work on full-year appropriations bills.
“We're suggesting, right now, a short-term CR to get us to November the 21st and to give us time to process and consider appropriations bills, which is the way we ought to be funding the government. And it's going to take 60 votes,” Thune said. “So I'm hoping that, notwithstanding what Senator Schumer is saying, there are Democrats out there who think it's a really bad idea” to shut down the government.
But frustrated Democrats say their leadership has been carved out of negotiations. A Democratic Senate aide said that Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have attempted twice to meet with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson since August, but that those attempts to open dialogue have “been ignored” for weeks.
And top Democratic appropriators panned the continuing resolution, saying that “House Republican leadership walked away from negotiations.”
Not all Republicans are on board.
Sen. Rand Paul chided his fellow GOP senators for suddenly being willing to embrace "the Biden spending levels" many of them decried on the campaign trail last year: "So any Republican who votes for this, I guess maybe they should apologize to Biden for being against his spending levels because they’re actually voting for his spending levels,” he told reporters.
Congressional Democrats are now seeking their own CR proposal that will touch on the health care concerns, but details are so far scarce.
Other asks include rolling back the health care cuts in Republicans’ budget-reconciliation bill—an unrealistic demand for a bill that GOP members are still campaigning on.
Senate Republicans had Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz at their caucus meeting Tuesday to discuss the health of rural hospitals following the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and the deadline for the health care premium tax credits.
“There's a lot of discussion right now around how to make the ACA work best for the American people,” Oz told reporters after the meeting. “I think the CR should be clean [and allow] that process to continue. But rest assured, there's a lot of discussion on this topic daily.”
The CR would also provide $30 million in funds for increased lawmaker security in response to the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last week, as well as an additional $58 million request from the White House for more security for executive- and judicial-branch personnel.
House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil said the $30 million was a plus-up to an existing program that funds local police to provide security for lawmakers. More funds may come for member security in the final version of the legislative branch appropriations bill, he said.
The stopgap bill also includes a provision with a budget fix allowing Washington, D.C., to spend its own funding after that was left out of the previous stopgap bill.
Republicans reported the measure out of the Rules Committee on Tuesday, with a vote on passage likely later this week.
President Trump is inserting himself into negotiations, pressuring Republicans to pass a “clean” CR, with or without Democrats' help.
“When President Trump goes on Fox News and says the Republicans don't even bother dealing [with] Democrats, when he says out loud he doesn't need or want our votes, that means Donald Trump wants a shutdown—full stop,” Schumer said.
“He's wrong,” he continued. “Either doesn't know how to count or he doesn't know how Congress works, even though Republican congressional leaders know full well they need Democratic votes to keep the government open.”
