USA US Democrats in the Senate want to block the transition budget
The transition budget, with which the US Republicans want to govern until mid-September, is off the table according to the Democrats - and the United States is moving closer to a so-called budget shutdown. The Democrats in the Senate have agreed to reject the "Continuing Resolution" (CR) passed by the Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, announced Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
13.03.2025, 01:12
SDA
The impending shutdown means that all federal spending in the US administration has been halted. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants would have to stay at home without pay, while others would have to continue working without pay.
Schumer, a Democratic senator from New York, has instead put forward a new proposal that does not aim for a six-month extension of the existing budget with minor changes, but instead only ensures administrative operations for 30 days. If no agreement is reached, the shutdown will begin on Friday night.
Democrats propose alternative
The six-month proposal in the House of Representatives was passed by 217 to 213 along party lines on Tuesday. Although the Republicans also have a majority in the 100-member Senate with 53 seats, 60 MPs must agree there for the proposal to be put to a vote at all. Due to the blockade announced by Schumer, this will not happen.
However, the Democrats in the Senate are united behind their proposal, which ensures "that the administration remains open and that Congress has enough time to negotiate a law that both sides agree to", said Schumer. This alternative would also require the approval of the House of Representatives again in order to avert the shutdown on Friday - but its Republican members have already returned to their constituencies from Washington after Tuesday's vote in order to put more pressure on the Senate.
The upcoming negotiations on the next regular budget are also considered difficult because the Republicans are demanding radical cuts and probably also want to cut social benefits. Due to their minorities in both chambers of Congress, blocking the interim budget is a rare parliamentary opportunity for the Democrats to express protest against the Republicans.
Rare blocking opportunity for Democrats
According to US media reports, the Democrats in the Senate are much less united in their rejection of the stopgap budget. Some of them fear that their party would be blamed for a shutdown in the event of a rejection. However, the party base would like many MPs to take a more decisive stance against the Republicans.
