Senate Democrats block Republican government funding extension bill

Senate Republicans’ bid to pass a short-term government funding extension was foiled by Senate Democrats as the deadline to fund the government fast approaches.

While the proposal easily glided through the House with little drama, it hit a brick wall in the Senate and failed 44-48. Only one lawmaker, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed the aisle to support the Republican plan. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voted against the bill.

Their failure to send the House GOP’s continuing resolution (CR) to President Donald Trump’s desk came on the heels of Democrats’ failed attempt to advance their own counter-proposal to the Republicans’ plan.

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It also comes as lawmakers gear up to leave Washington, D.C., for a week to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. They’re expected to return with just two working days left before the deadline to fund the government on Sept. 30.

“The House has acted,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “The president’s ready to sign the bill. We’ve got the appropriations committee and a lot of senators who are ready to go to work to pass bipartisan appropriations bills to fund the government by allowing these additional weeks into November. In order to do that, Democrats have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”

The CR would have kept the government open until Nov. 21, and it included tens of millions for increased security for lawmakers and the judicial and executive branches.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats have dug in against the GOP’s proposal, not so much because of what’s in the bill, but what’s not in it. They have also hung the possibility of a government shutdown on Trump, who demanded that Republicans cut Democrats out of the process.

Thune charged that if Democrats were “serious” about funding the government, they wouldn’t have “put out the most partisan piece of legislation you possibly could.”

“I mean, it’s kind of mind-boggling,” he said.

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