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- By Levi Rickert
"In a politically divided country, Democrats were also split over the passage of a short-term spending bill that will keep the federal government running through the end of September. While the bill passed with members of Congress in both chambers voting mostly along party lines, there was evidence of division among Democratic senators, with 10 voting in favor of the measure."
The bill features a modest increase in defense spending while cutting approximately $13 billion from non-defense programs. It aligns with Republican commitments to reduce domestic expenditures. Democrats criticized the bill, calling it a "blank check" for President Donald Trump, as it does not restrict the administration’s ongoing efforts to slash previously approved congressional spending.
The vote underscores deep divisions within the Democratic Party on how to address Trump 2.0. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-NY) faced strong backlash from House Democrats, who were nearly unanimous in opposing the funding bill after he chose to support it.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called Schumer’s stance “a huge slap in the face.”
"I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal and this is not just progressive Democrats — this is across the board, the entire party," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Thursday night at a party retreat in Leesburg, Virginia.
Among the senators voting in favor of the spending bill was Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who is vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
In a statement, Schatz called his vote a “difficult and close call” but said he ultimately “made the determination that a flawed bill was better than no bill at all.”
“I understand people’s frustration — I share it,” Schatz said. “But Trump and the Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, presented us with a bad choice and a worse choice. Both would produce terrible outcomes, but a shutdown would be more devastating for everyone.”
The only Native American in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) who is a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, opposed the bill.
"While I support raising pay for newly enlisted service members, the bill threatens Social Security and Medicare, makes it harder for Kansans to afford rent, cuts investments for local infrastructure projects and public safety programs, and guts a bipartisan program that has expanded health care for 2,500 veterans in Kansas’ Third District exposed to toxins. It also hands unchecked power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk — the same two who have thrown our economy and democracy into chaos — to push massive tax breaks for their billionaire friends. Kansans deserve real, bipartisan solutions that lower costs, not more reckless power grabs." Davids said in a statement.
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