How some Senate Democrats sided with Republicans to vote against government shutdown
With the help of several Democrats, the Senate voted 54-46 Friday to pass a Republican-sponsored stopgap funding bill that averted a federal government shutdown.
The vote was the second of two key votes that passed the bill:
The advance vote: The Senate voted 62-38 to end debate on the bill – a cloture vote – and advance it to a final vote. Nine Democrats and one independent, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted in favor of cloture. That vote allowed the bill to pass with a simple majority in the final vote.
The final vote: About an hour after the advance vote, the Senate voted 54-46 to approve the bill.
Schumer and seven other Democratic senators who joined him to end debate on the bill voted against the measure in the final vote.
The bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who has supported the legislation and was expected to sign it before midnight Friday.
The Democrats were led by Schumer, who said Thursday he would vote for the continuing resolution to avoid a more damaging federal shutdown.
How did senators vote on final bill?
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On Tuesday, the House passed the bill by four votes, allowing federal departments to be funded through September.
In the final Senate vote, only Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on the Republican side voted against the bill. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire voted for the bill and was the only Democrat to do so. Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent, also voted for it.
In announcing his decision Thursday, Schumer said the shutdown would be more damaging to the country because it would give Trump and billionaire Elon Musk greater leeway to cut federal spending.
“As bad as passing the CR (continuing resolution) is, as I said, allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” Schumer said in his statement.
How senators voted on advance vote
Democrats faced criticism for either choice, Paste BN reported. They could accept the federal funding extension that empowers Trump or risk being blamed for shutting down the government and losing further control over government agencies.
CONTRIBUTING Riley Beggin, Paste BN
SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Reuters