2:35Senate Majority Leader John Thune addresses reporters after the weekly Republican luncheons at the Capitol in Washington, July 22, 2025.Will Oliver/EPA/Shutterstock
On Wednesday, the Senate made progress toward the approval of its inaugural appropriation bill, with a decisive 90-8 vote to advance military construction and Veterans Affairs funding.
However, lawmakers still face a significant challenge to prevent a government shutdown, as they must navigate through 12 appropriations bills before the September 30 deadline.
The House, which has passed two appropriations bills, saw its legislative session conclude prematurely, as Speaker Mike Johnson ended it amid controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s management of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.
The Senate is poised to enter its August recess next week; however, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has left the door open for the possibility of canceling the lengthy break at President Donald Trump’s request to facilitate the advancement of his nominees.
Unlike many actions taken by Republicans this Congress, the passage of any of the 12 appropriations bills in the Senate will necessitate 60 votes.
Thune, during a segment on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” remarked, “we need to discover a method” to begin progressing with the measures.
“We must complete the appropriations process. Achieving this will require some level of collaboration from Democrats, and we hope they will be inclined to ensure government funding,” Thune stated in an interview with host Maria Bartiromo.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune addresses reporters following the weekly Republican luncheons at the Capitol in Washington, July 22, 2025.Will Oliver/EPA/Shutterstock
Democrats strategize on funding
On Tuesday, Democrats convened behind closed doors to formulate a unified strategy for addressing government funding in light of the impending shutdown deadline.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also conferred with their Democratic appropriators.
Following a brief joint press briefing, Schumer and Jeffries indicated that Democrats are dedicated to a “bipartisan, bicameral” appropriations approach but attributed the difficulty in finding a clear path to prevent a shutdown to Republican actions.
“As has always been the case, we are ready to engage in those discussions in good faith; however, House Republicans are not prepared. In fact, they are steering us toward a potential government shutdown that will adversely affect the American populace. We remain prepared and willing to pursue the type of appropriations process that will yield favorable results for the American people, but it must be both bipartisan and bicameral,” Jeffries stated.
Schumer expressed that Senate Democrats supported the initial appropriations bill for military construction and VA funding because it benefits veterans and rectifies some reductions implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency, but acknowledged that other matters would not be as straightforward.
Democrats are considering various factors as they contemplate how to approach government funding, particularly as many express feelings of betrayal after Republicans eliminated $9 billion in previously approved federal budget allocations.
Republicans managed to pass the rescissions package, which included cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, without any Democratic backing. Democrats claim this amounts to a breach of a prior agreement, which has left them hesitant about future negotiations.
“Personally, I find it very challenging to support appropriations when I know that Republicans will simply disregard them later on a purely partisan basis,” stated Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, on Monday. “The ongoing pattern of partisan betrayal from my colleagues raises significant concerns for me, making me quite ambivalent about this.”
Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, echoed similar sentiments.
“We have a trust dilemma that is essential to effective legislation; you reach an agreement and then there’s a sudden reversal on rescissions, and 60
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
