What will Democrats do next? A challenge facing the challenge of passing the Censorship Reform Act (Censored), an exposé by John Thune

The Democrats had a difficult choice to face with no easy answer. Helping Republicans pass the CR avoids a shutdown and issues they argue impact defense and other programs that are relying on increases instead of flat funding. They are unsure of what the Trump administration will do with workers in the event of a shutdown and what other cuts could be made.

John Thune blamed Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer for the bind Democrats were in, and called on Democrats to make a decision on how they will proceed.

It is time for Democrats to catch fish or bait, according to a speech in the Senate by John Thune. We have two days to find a new government funding source. And Democrats need to decide if they’re going to support funding legislation that came over from the House, or if they’re going to shut down the government.”

The party’s base is demanding they fight President Trump and Elon Musk’s rapid fire cuts to the federal workforce and block the funding bill that was crafted without Democratic input.

But Democrats say it is not that simple. Some worry about the unpredictable impact and length of a shutdown, and what the plan would be to get out of one. The political impact is one of the factors weighing on Democrats hoping to regain control of at least one chamber of Congress. Republicans control the House, Senate and White House, but Trump has a large microphone and Senate Democrats will end up determining what happens.

Senate Republicans hold a 53-seat majority, but likely need eight Democratic votes in the GOP-led chamber to overcome a filibuster in the GOP-led chamber to pass the measure, known as a continuing resolution.

Senate Republicans will see at least one defection because Kentucky GOP Sen. Last week, the Republican senator from Kentucky said he would not vote for the plan if it could codify Musk’s cuts.

John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who is a democrat, has said that he would vote with the GOP on the CR. Fetterman wants to avoid a shutdown and will not vote for chaos.

Schumer wanted a stopgap measure of four weeks to allow for negotiations on the annual spending bills.

Outraged and Betrayed: “What is going on the floor tonight, and what will we do about it?” Schumer told a retreat on social media

He did not expect the Democrats’ proposal to pass, but he was open to giving them an opportunity to vote. He said he hadn’t heard from the Democrats yet.

If they want to vote on that in order to get us to pass to September 30, we’re open to that. But as you all know, the House is gone, so whatever happens is going to have to be, I think, the final action here,” Thune said.

In the hours after Schumer’s push for a short term bill, two Senate Democrats up for re-Election in ten years said they wouldn’t vote for it. And although Schumer signaled his caucus was united, not all Democrats agree.

“Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession or Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails,” he said Thursday on social media platform X. “Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.”

Both Arizona Senators, Democrats Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, came out against the funding bill through September after saying for last few days they had concerns about the impact of the stopgap and a possible shutdown in their state.

House Democrats remained largely united on opposing the plan, and many took to social media to urge their Senate Democratic counterparts to do the same.

“I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal and this is not just progressive Democrats — this is across the board, the entire party,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Thursday night at a party retreat in Leesburg, Va.

House Democrats began their annual retreat already worried about how their Senate counterparts would vote on a GOP spending bill that all but one House Democrat voted against earlier in the week. The vote was seen by many Democrats as a sign of solidarity and they hoped the Senators would follow suit.

The vote is more than just this spending bill, warns the former Chair of the Progressive Caucus. “If we give in on this, we’re going to give in on a whole bunch of things,” she said.

Voting against the CR after you vote for the bill on the floor is what I suppose some of them are trying to be. “Frankly, now I think this just gives license to Republicans to continue to dismantle the government. They have the support of Senate Democrats.

She stated that there’s time to correct course and that she and her colleagues were calling and texting senators to oppose the cloture vote.

She said that a shutdown is not inevitable. “We could get a clean extension that would allow Republicans to negotiate with Democrats in order to have a functioning government.”

“This is not a time to have a lack of clarity and lack of purpose. This is a time to make a decision about what you’ll do.

“Show the American people that we’re going to stand up and fight for them in one of the very few opportunities that Democrats have to gain leverage over this administration.”

Later in the evening, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, and his top deputies released a statement saying the GOP bill will “unleash havoc on everyday Americans, giving Donald Trump and Elon Musk even more power to continue dismantling the federal government.”

Jeffries, along with whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and caucus chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., wrote that their caucus stands ready to vote for a four-week continuing resolution that brings parties back to the negotiating table.

The Senate has voted to keep the government open through the end of September. The measure was approved along party lines but an earlier vote exposed divisions among the Democrats.

The bill includes a small increase in defense spending and about $13 billion in cuts to non-defense programs. The GOP promised to cut domestic spending. The Democrats characterized the bill as a blank check for President Donald Trump because it doesn’t attempt to rein in the administration’s continued efforts to cut spending.

“This president has put us in a position where, in either direction lots of people’s constituents are gonna get hurt, and hurt badly,” said Heinrich, who voted against advancing the bill. When confronted by a bully, you have to confront them. I am not going to vote for this CR. I fully respect people who are different in their opinion, because the president is very comfortable with the pain that either path will create.

Schumer decided to keep the government open because it wouldminimize the harms to the American people.

“As bad as passing the CR is, allowing Donald Trump to take even more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.

Reply to “Comment on ‘Trump in the White House’ ‘When the GOP is Unified” and ‘What Will We Do About It’”

The backlash to Schumer’s decision has turned to rumblings of frustration about his future. Hakeem Jeffries was asked if Democrats need a new leader in the Senate. He evaded.

When asked by reporters, freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., remained silent. He later told NPR that while the party was united “it would help us unify more if we had a [postmortem.]”

As the GOP attempts to pass a reconciliation bill, Coons said he believes House and Senate democrats can work together in opposition to Trump’s agenda.