Government Shutdown Will Be on Democrats, Senate GOP Leader Says

Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t mince words at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. If a government shutdown happens, the South Dakota Republican said, it “will be entirely on the Democrats.”

Thune reaffirmed that Senate Republicans are prepared to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open. Nevertheless, some Democrats would have to join their GOP colleagues to overcome the 60-vote cloture threshold to bring the bill to the floor. If Democrats refuse to vote for the clean continuing resolution that would keep the government open beyond Friday and until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 and appropriations at previously negotiated levels, the shutdown will fall squarely on their shoulders.

Thune indicated that it remained an open question about whether enough of his Democratic colleagues would join with Republicans in the Senate to keep the government open. “As you all know, it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass an appropriations bill, so we’re going to need some Democrats to vote for it,” the South Dakota senator explained.

“And so here we are on the brink of a government shutdown, which will be entirely on the Democrats making if it happens, because the House will be voting on a continuing resolution to fund the government,” Thune told members of the press, including The Daily Signal. 

Some Senate Democrats have already hinted that they would vote for the continuing resolution bill in the Senate. 

“I will never vote or withhold that support because we must never shut down our government. That’s one of our core responsibilities, and I will never vote for chaos,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said last week. 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., mused publicly that shutting the government down might empower Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team to facilitate more early retirements of federal workers. “Maybe they decide that entire government agencies don’t need to exist anymore,” the Arizona senator suggested. 

Other Senate Democrats expressed a wait-and-see approach.

Thune went on to point out that Democrats had voted for a continuing resolution bill in the past overwhelmingly. 

“A similar continuing resolution passed, the end of last year in the Senate with 85 votes. This one should be no different, honestly,” he said.

The Senate majority leader also noted that Senate Democrats have flip-flopped on the filibuster, from favoring abolishing it to using it themselves.

“The Democrats have used the filibuster three times this year already, despite arguing for its elimination as recently as a few months ago,” Thune said.

Historically, filibustering by a member of the party out of power that leads to a government shutdown has not led to high approval ratings for the opposition party.