(WASHINGTON) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tussled with reporters Friday, pushing back against the notion that the Democratic Party is fractured as some Senate Democrats, including their leader, were on the cusp of joining Republicans to avert a government shutdown.
“Is it time for new leadership in the Senate?” a reporter asked.
“Next question,” Jeffries answered, notably withholding his public support for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“There are some colleagues of yours here in the House that are feeling betrayed. Is that what you’re feeling right now?” another reporter asked.
“The vote hasn’t happened yet,” Jeffries said.
“Have you lost confidence in him — since you guys see this so differently?” a reporter asked.
“Next question,” Jeffries repeated, dismissing the biting query.
“None of you are willing to say at this point that you have confidence in Chuck Schumer as leader?” Rachael Bade, an ABC News contributor and Politico’s Capitol bureau chief and senior Washington columnist, asked.
“You keep engaging in these parlor games because you want to take the focus off the American people,” Jeffries dodged.
It was a common strategy from Jeffries, who repeatedly rejected attempts from reporters to learn more about the divisions between House Democrats and Schumer, who announced Thursday that he would vote to keep the government open.
Schumer’s announcement has been met with full-throated criticism from House Democrats, who were powerless to block Republicans from passing the measure earlier this week.
“House Democrats are here. We’re ready to pass a four week spending bill that keeps the government open and will allow the House and the Senate to negotiate an actual agreement that meets the needs of the American people,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. “But we do not support a bill that is designed to hurt the American people that Donald Trump and far right extremist Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of everyday Americans.”
Jeffries continued to push for a month-long stop-gap measure, holding out hope that Senate Democrats will stop the bill from passing and appropriators will reconvene bipartisan negotiations.
“We’ll see what happens over in the Senate, there are still undecided and undeclared senators, and we anxiously await that vote,” Jeffries said.
As the caucus melts down internally over Schumer’s decision, House Democratic leaders returned to the Capitol fired up Friday morning following their caucus retreat in Leesburg, Virginia this week.
“What the American people need to know is that House Democrats are willing to work in a bipartisan way to keep government open for 30 days,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said. “That’s all we want. That’s our solution.”
While Schumer’s influence over his caucus remains to be seen ahead of the planned vote this afternoon, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark also dismissed the so-called “parlor game” dividing the Democratic Party — and downplayed Schumer’s national celebrity and influence – even though he’s served in the Senate for a quarter century and been the party leader since 2017.
“Most American people, they can’t name us. They don’t know who Chuck Schumer is, but they do know what this administration and Elon Musk and the GOP are planning for them,” Clark, D-Mass., said.
When asked if he’s afraid to say if he has confidence in Schumer, Jeffries grew defensive if not outright angry.
“Do not characterize my remarks. I am not afraid about anything, anything. I was very clear that we look forward to working with every single one of our Senate Democratic colleagues, every single one of them to push back against the Trump administration,” Jeffries said on-camera, leaving the newser in a gaggle with reporters.
“Do you think this is what the American people care about right?” Jeffries quipped, when pressed again on his confidence in Schumer.
(WASHINGTON) — Ten Senate Democrats provided the necessary votes to allow the House-approved government funding bill to advance on Friday afternoon, setting the government funding bill on a glide path to final passage before a deadline at the end of the day Friday.
In a test vote, the Senate voted 62 to 38 to advance the bill — with 60 votes needed to advance it. Democrats voted with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to keep the funding bill moving forward, despite blowback from other members of their party.
While the test vote wasn’t on the final passage of the funding bill, it’s an indicator of how the final vote will go. With the passage of the key procedural hurdle, it’s almost certain to eventually pass.
The vote comes after Schumer took to the Senate floor Friday morning to defend his decision to support the Republican short-term funding bill — a move that has drawn criticism from other Democrats.
His surprise reversal, first announced Thursday evening — a day after he said he and Democrats would try to block the bill — means there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance the measure to a final Senate vote Friday just hours before the shutdown deadline.
“As everyone knows, government funding expires at midnight tonight. As I announced yesterday, I will vote to keep the government open. I believe it is the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people,” Schumer said Friday.
He said he believes the short-term funding bill — or continuing resolution — is a “bad bill” but said he believes if the government were to shut down, it would be a far worse outcome for the country.
“The CR is a bad bill. But as bad as the CR is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” Schumer said.
Schumer said he believes a government shutdown would mean President Donald Trump and Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would have even more authority to “destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
He said they would also have the power to determine which federal employees are considered essential — potentially giving them more power to lay off or fire more government workers and shutter federal agencies.
“A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. Let me repeat, a shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. It would give Donald Trump and DOGE the keys to the city, state and country,” he said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate than they can right now and over a much broader field of destruction that they would render.”
He continued, “In a shutdown, Donald Trump and DOGE will have the power to determine what is considered essential and what is not and their views on what is not essential would be mean and vicious and would decimate vital services and cause unimaginable harm to the American people.”
“Musk has told everybody he wants a shutdown because he knows it will help him achieve his horrible goal of just decimating the federal government from one end to the other. In other words, if government were to shut down, DOGE has a plan in place to exploit the crisis for maximum destruction,” Schumer said.
“A shutdown would be the best distraction Donald Trump could ask for,” he added.
Schumer also defended some of his Senate Democratic colleagues who have come out opposed to the short-term funding bill. He acknowledged the tough decisions they as a caucus had to weigh.
“Our caucus members have been torn between two awful alternatives, and my colleagues and I have wrestled with which alternative would be worse for the American people,” Schumer said.
Trump praised Schumer in a post on his social media platform on Friday, saying it took “guts” for the New York senator to signal his support for the GOP bill.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took “guts” and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning,” Trump wrote.
Two separate letters were sent to Schumer on Friday, urging senators to reject the GOP continuing resolution — one from freshman California Rep. Derek Tran and the second from Ranking Member of House Appropriations Committee Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.
Rep. Tran’s letter, which has 66 signatures so far and is addressed directly to Schumer, states that “as members of the House Democratic Caucus, we write to express our strong opposition to the passage of a partisan continuing resolution that potentially legitimizes President Trump and the Republican party’s dismantling of government.”
“We urge you to reject the partisan continuing resolution coming before the Senate and stand with the American people in opposing these draconian Republican cuts. All parties must come back to the negotiating table and work across party lines to keep the government open in a responsible way,” the lawmakers wrote.
Rep. DeLauro’s letter, which came from Democratic lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee, echoed similar sentiments.
“As members of the House Committee on Appropriations, we urge our Democratic colleagues in the Senate to reject the partisan and harmful continuing resolution that will only serve to enable President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party’s ongoing efforts to unilaterally and unlawfully destroy the agencies and programs that serve the American people,” the appropriators said.
“We urge all Senate Democrats to stand with House Democrats and with the American people, reject this continuing resolution,” they added.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appeared to be distancing herself from Schumer’s decision, slammed Democrats who support the House GOP bill.
“America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People,” she said in a statement Friday.
At the same time, Pelosi applauded House Democrats for their near unanimous vote against the measure.
“I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill,” she said.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
“A shutdown would be the best distraction Donald Trump could ask for,” he added.
Schumer also defended some his Senate Democratic colleagues who have come out opposed to the short-term funding bill. He acknowledged the tough decisions they as a caucus have had to weigh.
“Our caucus members have been torn between two awful alternatives, and my colleagues and I have wrestled with which alternative would be worse for the American people,” Schumer said.
He added that just because some of his colleagues will vote no on advancing the short-term funding bill, it does not mean they support a government shutdown.
“Different senators come down on different sides of this question. But that does not mean that any Senate Democrat supports a shutdown. Whatever the outcome, our caucus will be united in our determination to continue the long-term fight to stop Donald Trump’s dangerous war on our democracy and on America’s working families,” he said.
About the time Schumer was speaking, Trump praised him in a post on his social media platform, saying it took “guts” for the New York senator to signal his support for the GOP bill.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took “guts” and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning,” Trump wrote.
On Friday, House Democrats sent a letter to Schumer saying their “strong opposition” to the funding bill.
“The Republican leadership has deliberately cut Democrats out of the process, and we must not give in to Republican hostage-taking of our vulnerable seniors, veterans, and working-class families to advance their destructive funding bill,” the House Democratic Caucus’ letter said.
The letter recommends a 30-day CR as a short-term solution.
“We urge you to reject the partisan continuing resolution coming before the Senate and stand with the American people in opposing these draconian Republican cuts,” the letter said. “All parties must come back to the negotiating table and work across party lines to keep the government open in a responsible way.”
“If Republicans in Congress want to pass this bill, they should do so with their own votes,” the letter said. “However, since they cannot, Republicans must work with Democrats to pass a clean 30-day continuing resolution and continue negotiating full FY25 appropriations.”
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appeared to be distancing herself from Schumer’s decision, slammed Democrats who support the House GOP bill.
“America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People,” she said in a statement Friday.
At the same time, Pelosi applauded House Democrats for their near unanimous vote against the measure.
“I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill,” she said.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor Friday morning to defend his decision to support a Republican short-term funding bill that will effectively help avoid a government shutdown at the end of the day.
His surprise reversal, first announced Thursday evening — a day after he said he and Democrats would try to block the bill — means there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance the measure to a final Senate vote Friday just hours before the shutdown deadline.
“As everyone knows, government funding expires at midnight tonight. As I announced yesterday, I will vote to keep the government open. I believe it is the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people,” Schumer said Friday.
He said he believes the short-term funding bill — or continuing resolution — is a “bad bill” but said he believes if the government were to shut down, it would be a far worse outcome for the country.
“The CR is a bad bill. But as bad as the CR is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option,” Schumer said.
Schumer said he believes a government shutdown would mean President Donald Trump and Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would have even more authority to “destroy vital government services at a much faster rate.”
He said they would also have the power to determine which federal employees are considered essential — potentially giving them more power to lay off or fire more government workers and shutter federal agencies.
“A shutdown would allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. Let me repeat, a shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive. It would give Donald Trump and DOGE the keys to the city, state and country,” he said. “Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster rate than they can right now and over a much broader field of destruction that they would render.”
He continued, “In a shutdown, Donald Trump and DOGE will have the power to determine what is considered essential and what is not and their views on what is not essential would be mean and vicious and would decimate vital services and cause unimaginable harm to the American people.”
“Musk has told everybody he wants a shutdown because he knows it will help him achieve his horrible goal of just decimating the federal government from one end to the other. In other words, if government were to shut down, DOGE has a plan in place to exploit the crisis for maximum destruction,” Schumer said.
“A shutdown would be the best distraction Donald Trump could ask for,” he added.
Schumer also defended some his Senate Democratic colleagues who have come out opposed to the short-term funding bill. He acknowledged the tough decisions they as a caucus have had to weigh.
“Our caucus members have been torn between two awful alternatives, and my colleagues and I have wrestled with which alternative would be worse for the American people,” Schumer said.
He added that just because some of his colleagues will vote no on advancing the short-term funding bill, it does not mean they support a government shutdown.
“Different senators come down on different sides of this question. But that does not mean that any Senate Democrat supports a shutdown. Whatever the outcome, our caucus will be united in our determination to continue the long-term fight to stop Donald Trump’s dangerous war on our democracy and on America’s working families,” he said.
About the time Schumer was speaking, Trump praised him in a post on his social media platform, saying it took “guts” for the New York senator to signal his support for the GOP bill.
“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took “guts” and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We should all work together on that very dangerous situation. A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights. Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning,” Trump wrote.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appeared to be distancing herself from Schumer’s decision, slammed Democrats who support the House GOP bill.
“America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People,” she said in a statement Friday.
At the same time, Pelosi applauded House Democrats for their near unanimous vote against the measure.
“I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is set to visit the Justice Department on Friday — a move that comes as he has sought to assert control over the nation’s top law-enforcement agency that brought two historic prosecutions against him, which were thwarted by his 2024 election victory.
The rare visit will mark Trump’s first time inside the walls of the Robert F. Kennedy building as president, and follows nearly a decade’s worth of conflict that have proven to be the ultimate stress test for the Justice Department’s post-Watergate norms intended to preserve independence from the White House.
The opening weeks of Trump’s presidency have been a time of unprecedented upheaval for the DOJ, as Trump’s political leadership immediately moved to reassign or oust career officials who served in senior criminal and national security roles across multiple administrations.
Dozens of prosecutors who worked on investigations stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol were fired, as well as DOJ and FBI officials who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of Trump.
An effort by the department to drop its criminal corruption case against New York Mayor Adams resulted in a dramatic standoff leading to multiple resignations by prosecutors and other top officials who described the arrangement as a clear “quid pro quo” to secure Adams’ cooperation with the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
In remarks Thursday to reporters at the White House, Trump said his speech at DOJ would “set out” his “vision” for the department through the rest of his tenure.
“I think we have unbelievable people, and all I’m going to do is set out my vision. It’s going to be their vision, really, but it’s my ideas,” he said. “We want to have justice, and we want to have — we want to have safety in our cities as well as our communities. And we’ll be talking about immigration. We’ll be talking about a lot of things.”
Nearly every top appointee for the department previously represented Trump as a defense attorney in either an official or personal capacity, a reflection of Trump’s expectation for loyalty from a department that he has said he believes stymied his first term and was later “weaponized” against him after leaving office.
While Attorney General Pam Bondi told senators in her confirmation hearing she would “not politicize” her office, her opening weeks, critics argue, have been marked with politically-charged statements repeatedly emphasizing her loyalty to Trump.
“I’ve never seen this before, and we all adore Donald Trump and we want to protect him and fight for his agenda,” Bondi said in an interview with Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
In another interview early this month, Bondi said she was still working to “root out” officials at the department who she said “despise Donald Trump.”
In one of her first directives following her confirmation, Bondi ordered DOJ officials to “zealously defend” the interests of the presidency, and threatened discipline or termination for any attorney who refused to sign onto legal arguments put forward by political leadership.
“When Department of Justice attorneys, for example, refuse to advance good-faith arguments by declining to appear in court or sign briefs, it undermines the constitutional order and deprives the President of the benefit of his lawyers,” the directive stated.
Trump’s visit to DOJ is his first to any government agency since taking office, though it’s not without precedent. The last visit by a sitting American president to the building was by former President Barack Obama, who attended a departure ceremony in 2015 for Eric Holder — for a retirement ceremony honoring his time as attorney general.
(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, faces a confirmation hearing Friday before the Senate Finance Committee.
Oz, a doctor and former television host whose nomination to lead CMS has put him in the political spotlight for the first time since his unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat three years ago, is expected to have to deal with tough questions from Democrats on the 27-member committee, which will vote whether to move his nomination to a floor vote in front of the entire Senate.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in particular, has been increasingly vocal ahead of the hearing about Oz’s financial ties to health care companies that he will now oversee in his role at CMS and his past comments about privatizing Medicare, one of the programs he’ll manage.
She also criticized what she calls his “hostile record” on abortion rights, referring to Oz’s comments on the campaign trail that a woman’s decision to get an abortion should be made by her, her doctor and “local political leaders.”
“The implication that elected officials should be involved in a woman’s personal health treatment decision is terrifying and antithetical to patient health,” Warren wrote to Oz on Thursday.
Warren asked him if he would use his position to issue guidance that could defund Planned Parenthood, or withdraw Medicaid funds from states that protect abortion rights in various ways.
Oz is also likely to be questioned about a report from Democrats who inspected his tax returns and said that he underpaid on Social Security and Medicare taxes by using a limited liability loophole.
“Dr. Oz’s position is counter to the position of the Department of Treasury and results in him not paying into Social Security and Medicare, the very healthcare program he hopes to manage,” Democratic Senate Finance committee staff wrote in the memo, circulated around the committee.
“He avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes in the years reviewed,” the staff wrote. They reviewed Oz’s taxes from 2021 to 2023.
The committee staff reviewed Oz’s tax returns and met with the nominee, his accountant and his lawyers earlier in March. Oz and his team maintained that he was not liable for the taxes the Democrats said he owed, according to the memo.
Oz in the past has expressed support for Medicare Advantage, a Medicare-approved plan run by private insurance companies. The plan must follow rules set by Medicare, such as limiting out-of-pocket expenses and covering all services covered by traditional Medicare.
“Medicare Advantage has definitely become a much more important part of the Medicare program. It’s now the most popular coverage option within the program,” Joe Albanese, a senior policy analyst at the right-leaning think tank Paragon Health Institute, told ABC News.
“It’s grown very rapidly in popularity over the past decade,” he continued. “And that’s going change the way that the government interacts with Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries.”
In an op-ed co-written for Forbes in June 2020, Oz said Medicare Advantage offers better care due to there being competing plans. He said Medicare Advantage could also be expanded to all Americans who are not on Medicaid, which would be funded by a 20% payroll tax. He has also promoted Medicare Advantage on his show, “The Dr. Oz Show.”
Oz rose to prominance after frequent guest appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the early 2000s.
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is removing the Internal Revenue Service’s top attorney, according to two sources familiar with the move, amid an internal debate over sharing confidential taxpayer information with other government agencies.
Acting IRS chief counsel William Paul is set to be demoted to his previous role, and replaced by Andrew De Mello, another IRS attorney who was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the inspector general of the Department of Education during his first term, the sources said.
Paul was promoted to replace outgoing chief counsel Marjorie Rollinson in January.
His demotion at IRS headquarters comes as representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency have been working to secure agreements with other agencies to use and share taxpayer information across the government, to help with issues including the vetting of federal benefit payments and immigration information.
Section 6103 of the federal tax code requires the IRS keep individual taxpayer information confidential with certain exceptions, and some within the agency have raised privacy concerns about the proposals pushed by DOGE representatives for access to and the sharing of IRS data.
The Treasury Department and a spokesperson for the IRS did not respond to requests for comment.
The IRS is also expected to lose approximately 20% of its workforce — or roughly 18,000 jobs — by May 15 as part of staff cuts directed by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
That figure includes the probationary workers already dismissed and IRS workers who accepted the administration’s ‘buyout’ offer over email.
On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to rehire the fired workers at the IRS and five other agencies, though the administration has filed a notice to appeal the ruling.
The agency’s taxpayer services and compliance departments are expected to lose thousands of workers in what could be the first of several waves of firings, one of the sources said.
A man shouts at Rep. Chuck Edwards during a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina/Sean Rayford/Getty Images
(ASHEVILLE, N.C.) — Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., was confronted by angry constituents during a town hall meeting on Thursday night about President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts across the government.
“How do you justify cuts to staff of the VA helping veterans, especially those with long term care needs,” asked one constituent who was met with a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in Asheville, North Carolina.
“So first of all, there have been no cuts to the staff at VA as of this point. Like him or not, Elon Musk has brought a lot of really smart people,” Edwards responded as he was met with a round of boos. Earlier this month, an internal VA memo indicated that the agency was preparing to lay off 80,000 from its workforce.
The interaction turned so contentious and hostile that Edwards had to be escorted out of the building.
“You don’t get to do this to us,” yelled another constituent.
Republican leadership has told their members to avoid in-person town halls like these after several members were grilled in their home districts.
Edwards, however, went against their advice on Thursday.
“”You see a lot of advice in Washington, D.C. from different folks saying, you know, ‘Republicans shouldn’t be out there doing town halls,’ and I’m thinking ‘why not?’ I love the people,” said Edwards.
The Trump administration is pushing forward with sweeping cuts with thousands of workers already having been laid off across the federal workforce – including Veteran Affairs, the IRS and the Department of Education.
Elon Musk split with the White House this week, suggesting that entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security could be on the chopping block next.
“The waste and fraud in entitlement spending, which is all of the, which is most of the federal spending is entitlements, so that’s like the big one to eliminate,” Musk said earlier this week.
Those words have left some voters very concerned, with Edwards taking the brunt end of the attacks Thursday night.
“What are you doing to ensure the protection of our Social Security benefits,” asked on constituent to a round of applause.
Replied Edwards: “I’m not going to vote to dissolve your Social Security. I’m not looking to disrupt Social Security at all.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer conceded a government shutdown is the worse outcome.
“While the Republican bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much much worse. For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option,” he said. “It is not a clean CR” or continuing resolution, he said. “It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option.”
Schumer’s announcement amounted to a major break from House Democrats who voted nearly unanimously against the GOP funding bill earlier this week. Following Schumer’s remarks, top House Democrats released a joint statement reiterating that they remain “strongly opposed” to the GOP funding bill and say instead they support a four-week spending bill that would allow lawmakers to continue negotiating.
In his remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer argued Republicans are to blame for a “Hobson’s choice” that “brought us to the brink of disaster.”
“Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down tomorrow at midnight. I have said many times there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans who rely on federal programs to feed their families to access medical care and to stay financially afloat,” Schumer said.
A decision to shut down the government would give President Donald Donald Trump and his senior adviser Elon Musk too much power to continue their federal worker cuts without discretion, he asserted.
“A shutdown would give Donald Trump and Elon musk carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now. Under as shutdown the Trump administration would have full authority to deem whole agencies programs an personnel nonessential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired,” Schumer said. “In short: a shut down would give Donald Trump Elon musk and DOGE the keys to the city state and country.”
Earlier Thursday, Schumer told his Democratic colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he would vote to clear a path for final passage of a House-GOP funding bill, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
That move would clear the way for Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority.
Senate Democrats remained tight-lipped after huddling behind closed doors ahead of the fast-approaching government funding deadline.
“What happens in caucus, stays in caucus,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said as she left the weekly lunch.
“Ask somebody else,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker grumbled.
“I don’t have any comment,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Several Democrats have privately admitted they likely don’t have the votes to block a Republican proposal to keep the government funded through September, multiple sources told ABC News.
Tensions were on full display at the private meeting. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was yelling so loudly about the impact of a shutdown that reporters could hear her through the walls.
One Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity told ABC News, “We lost this two weeks ago … we should’ve been beating this drum for a month.”
At that point, only Democratic Sen. John Fetterman had publicly signaled he would vote to keep the government open.
Fetterman insisted that he won’t succumb to the posturing he sees from party leaders after he urged Republicans to keep government open in the past when Democrats controlled the upper chamber.
“Never, ever, ever, ever, ever shut the government down,” Fetterman told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. “Democrat, Republican, independents, anyone. Never shut the government down. That’s one of our core responsibilities.”
Fetterman called the political pressure “spicy” — telling reporters that he’s remaining “consistent” in his principled belief not to vote for a shutdown.
Fetterman acknowledged that Republicans “are daring” Democrats to shut down the government, but the freshman Democrat worried that furloughed workers and people depending on federal services are the ones who are “really going to hurt.”
Now that Republicans cleared their bill through the House, Fetterman said he believes the battle is over.
Fetterman said the only time Democrats have leverage is if the Republicans need the votes in the House.
“The GOP delivered, and that effectively iced this out. And that forces us to say, ‘Are you going to shut the government down, or you are going to vote for a flawed CR?’ And now for me, I refuse to shut the government down.”
Schumer on Wednesday said Senate Democrats would not provide the votes needed for Republicans to advance the House-approved deal to fund the government through September. Instead, Schumer proposed a one-month stopgap measure to allow more time for appropriators to negotiate and complete full-year funding bills.
Republicans and the White House, meanwhile, are preemptively pointing the finger at Democrats if a shutdown ensues.
“If it closes, it’s purely on the Democrats,” President Donald Trump said as he took reporter questions while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump was asked whether he’s step in to negotiate with Democrats and he said he would if Republicans requested it: “If they need me, I’m there 100%.”
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge temporarily paused the Trump administration’s “illegal” reductions in force and reinstated approximately 20,000 probationary government employees across 18 agencies who had been terminated.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar — an Obama appointee — concluded that the Trump administration failed to provide the legally required advanced notice before it tried to conduct “massive layoffs.” The judge also prohibited the Trump administration from conducting future mass firings without giving notice.
“When the federal government terminates large numbers of its employees, including those still on probation because they were recently hired or promoted, it must follow certain rules,” Bredar wrote.
The ruling applies to 18 of the federal agencies named as defendants in the case except for the Defense Department, the National Archives and the Office of Personnel Management.
The decision came in a case brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general who sued last week to block the firings and is separate from a California judge’s decision also dealing with probationary employees that was issued earlier Thursday.
Similar to the reasoning of the judge in the California case, Bredar wrote that he believes the government lied when it listed “performance” or other individualized reasons as justification for the layoffs.
“On the record before the Court, this isn’t true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively,” he wrote. “It is simply not conceivable that the Government could have conducted individualized assessments of the relevant employees in the relevant timeframe.”
Bredar concluded that the states that sued are suffering irreparable harm by having to assist thousands of unemployed workers who were fired illegally.
“Lacking the notice to which they were entitled, the States weren’t ready for the impact of so many unemployed people,” he wrote. “They are still scrambling to catch up,” he wrote.
Bredar’s order will remain in place for two weeks, and he scheduled a hearing for March 26 to consider issuing a preliminary injunction, which is a longer-term measure.
Like the California case, Bredar did not rule that the Trump administration is not able to conduct mass firings; rather, the administration just needs to provide advanced notice when it conducts a reduction in force. While the order provides a reprieve for more than 20,000 government workers, the lifeline is temporary, even if the order is extended later this month.
The judge’s order came after a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The Democratic attorneys general argued that the Trump administration violated federal law with the firings by failing to give a required 60-day notice for a reduction in force, opting to pursue the terminations “suddenly and without any advance notice.”
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the states lack standing because they “cannot interject themselves into the employment relationship between the United States and government workers,” and that to grant the temporary restraining order would “circumvent” the administrative process for challenging the firings.
In separate earlier lawsuits, two other federal judges had declined to immediately block firings of federal employees or to reinstate them to their positions.
(WASHINGTON) — As Republicans brand the impending lapse in government funding the “Schumer Shutdown,” hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on edge as the Senate struggles to reach a deal ahead of Friday night’s looming deadline.
If a deal is not reached by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 14, federal workers could get furloughed without pay, though many will still be required to show up to work. Federal contractors are not required to work but are also not guaranteed backpay for the duration of a shutdown.
While the House voted on Tuesday to avert a shutdown, the bill passed was a unilateral GOP-led bill, with no Democratic support. The bill would need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, but with no Democratic input in the bill, it is unclear if there are enough votes to surpass the filibuster threshold.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor on Wednesday.
Still, President Donald Trump placed blame on Democrats Thursday morning, saying, “If it closes, it’s purely on the Democrats.”
“If there’s a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will be their fault,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “And I’m hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote for it, and I hope they do.”
Democrats were tight-lipped after leaving their weekly caucus lunch Thursday afternoon.
The shutdown would be the 21st federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
The federal workforce has experienced massive cuts since President Donald Trump took office in January and tapped billionaire Elon Musk to slash agencies and employees via the Department of Government Efficiency, which has caused thousands of workers to be laid off already.
With recent DOGE cuts causing layoffs across the federal workforce and among government contractors, it is unclear exactly how many people could be affected.
In the absence of guidance from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, it is unclear what parts of the government would close in the event of a shutdown.
While the OMB has typically notified federal workers ahead of the funding deadline, it removed previous, Biden-era guidance on shutdown plans from its website. The last time the United States faced a government shutdown threat was in December 2024, but members of Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the government through March 14.
An OMB spokesperson has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
The good news is that because the deadline falls on a weekend, Congress has a couple extra days to strike a deal before most federal workers would be expected back at their desks.
Given the shutdown would begin on a Saturday, many would not really feel the impacts of a shutdown until Monday — or even later, when the next payroll is disbursed.
Some ‘mandatory’ programs will continue
Because payments from Social Security and Medicare are considered “mandatory” spending, they will continue to reach mailboxes, although agencies warn services could slow down.
The U.S. Postal Service, which uses its own revenue stream, won’t be affected either.
How could the military be affected?
About 1.3 million active-duty service members would still be required to work — but without pay until a funding agreement is passed. Typically, half of the 700,000 civilians in the Department of Defense workforce would also be required to work without pay, though by law, all civilians will be paid retroactively.
Generally, military contractors are not required to work and lose paychecks for the duration of the shutdown. However, those who already have had their contracts paid out by the Pentagon would continue to be paid.
Airport wait times could slow
The Transportation Security Administration has not formally weighed in on a shutdown, but if funding does run out for an extended period, wait times at airports could be longer.
The shutdown would come as 173 million people in the U.S. are expected to fly in March and April as spring break travel ramps up and could lead to longer than usual wait times.
There could also be an impact on hiring air traffic controllers.
Impact on Washington, D.C., national parks, and other services
By next week, trash could be piling up along the National Mall outside the White House as janitors working under contract are let go from the hourly jobs.
The Smithsonian Institution’s museums could also be affected, though it has not released whether it will close its museums if the government shuts down. Ahead of a possible shutdown in December, the Smithsonian Institution said it would keep its 21 museums and the National Zoological Park open until funding ran out, which was days after a shutdown deadline.
Typically, the National Park Service will release guidance ahead of a government shutdown but has not as of Thursday. In the past, if there is a funding lapse, all national parks have closed, and visitors should expect some services to be unavailable starting Monday, March 17.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Luis Martinez and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
