Democrats Face Internal Divisions as GOP Advances Funding Cuts Ahead of Shutdown Deadline

Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA

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Image Credit: Francis Chung/POLITICO

With just 10 weeks remaining before a potential government shutdown, Democrats on Capitol Hill are expressing mounting frustration with the Trump administration and their Republican counterparts, accusing them of undercutting bipartisan funding negotiations. Yet despite the growing alarm, Democrats are struggling to present a unified strategy to force Republicans to change course.

In the House, Republican leaders are moving forward with sweeping spending cuts and controversial policy riders that Democrats say threaten key priorities. Among them are provisions to restrict abortion access, block enforcement of several gun regulations, and curb federal hiring programs designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Over in the Senate, Democrats hold more leverage, with 60 votes needed to advance any funding bill. GOP leaders in the upper chamber are working to bring forward measures with bipartisan backing, but so far, Democrats have stopped short of wielding their most potent weapon the threat of allowing a government shutdown if their demands are ignored.

“We’re trying to figure out how best to proceed, but to be blunt, I don’t think there’s one tactic or approach that is going to solve this from any individual Democrat,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D‑Hawaii), a senior appropriator. “The Republicans have to decide whether they want to be totally lobotomized or not.”

The tension comes after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑N.Y.) faced intense criticism from within his party earlier this year for agreeing to a temporary funding extension that Republicans pushed through in March. Since then, President Donald Trump has continued to exercise sweeping unilateral authority, freezing and clawing back billions in federal funds despite prior congressional approval.

Last week, Congress approved Trump’s request to rescind $9 billion in previously approved funding the first such package in three decades. The move drew rare opposition from two senior Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who expressed concern that the clawbacks undermine Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.

Collins urged her colleagues to remain committed to bipartisan work. “The best way for us to counter what has been said by the OMB director is to continue to work in a bipartisan way. And I hope that we are going to do so,” she said.

House Democrats, however, see the clawback as a dangerous precedent. “We’ve got to work to make sure that there are several others on the other side of the aisle who have the stomach and the strength and the spine to stand up and say: ‘No, don’t take it away from the Congress. It’s our job,’” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D‑Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Even as Democrats explore legal avenues with more than 100 lawsuits challenging Trump’s funding moves pending nationwide their immediate focus remains on building bipartisan support in Congress. Following the House’s late‑night vote on the rescissions package, the chamber’s top three Democrats issued a joint statement warning Republicans that they will bear responsibility if the government shuts down this fall.

“Tonight’s vote, coming hours after the Trump White House abandoned the bipartisan appropriations process, makes it clear that House Republicans are determined to march this country toward a painful government shutdown later this year,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D‑N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D‑Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D‑Calif.).

Still, Democratic leaders such as Schumer have not yet drawn a clear red line. In a recent letter to his caucus, Schumer argued that Republicans “know it is absurd” to expect Democratic support for fiscal 2026 bills if they continue to claw back previously approved funding.

For now, Democratic appropriators in the Senate appear intent on pressing forward. “I think the most important thing for us to do is to continue to move the appropriations process as expeditiously as we can, to try and find bipartisan agreement,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D‑N.H.). “Because it’s in everybody’s interest to do this and to move forward.”

Whether that approach succeeds or leads to another high‑stakes showdown will become clear as the October 1 deadline draws near.