Government shutdown threat: What each party is really after

The midterm elections are getting closer and closer, and neither party wants to shoulder the responsibility of a government shutdown. While the two parties blame each other, the panoramic view shows us that while the Democrats have put forward a heavily politically charged option that would reverse several of President Donald Trump's most important accomplishments in the "Big Beautiful Bill," the Republican party has put a clear and simple option on the table: keep things as they are, extending the deadline by seven weeks with no political leanings and only passing a budget to avoid a shutdown.

Today the possibility of a government shutdown has officially been put on the table. Two funding proposals, one Republican and one Democrat, were rejected after failing to reach the necessary 60 votes in the Senate. If an agreement is not reached by September 30, on October 1 the shutdown would begin and the two parties would have to deal with the enormous communication work trying to convince their voters that the fault is not theirs, in addition to the negotiations to achieve the funding.

The Republican proposal

The key thing to understand about the Republican proposal is that their Resolution, which passed the House of Representatives on Friday morning, is a Clean Continuing Resolution, meaning it keeps things as they are for seven weeks, no major changes, just the goal of avoiding a government shutdown.

The vote in the House was 217 to 212 Democratic votes. A result that constitutes a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, who could only afford to lose two votes if all Democrats stood united by voting in opposition. From the Republican Party, Representatives Thomas Massie, from Kentucky, and Victoria Spartz, from Indiana, voted against. While from the Democratic party, Representative Jared Golden, from Maine, decided to support the Republicans.

Even though as we have said the Resolution does not include partisan policy riders, Democrats in the Senate opted to introduce their own Resolution, adding several provisions that were clearly going to be a "no" vote for Republicans, in that they represent significant rollbacks to President Donald Trump's agenda.

The fight in the Senate

While Republicans do not need Democratic votes in the House, and with an aligned vote were able to move the Resolution forward by having a simple majority, in the Senate they will need Democratic votes to pass their plan. After approval in the House, the Senate moved to its own vote and as the afternoon began, the Democrats put their proposal to the test.

The plan they put forward, which failed with staunch Republican opposition, would have kept the government open until October 31, in exchange for permanently extending Obamacare premium subsidies, undoing the Medicaid cuts contemplated in Trump's "big, beautiful bill" and, in addition, sought to restore funding for NPR and PBS that has already been canceled.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, sharply criticized the Democrats' proposal, saying “It’s not clean – it’s filthy. It’s packed full of partisan policies and measures designed to appeal to Democrats’ leftist base."

Following the rejection of the Democratic proposal, a vote was taken on the Resolution presented by the Republicans. Democrats rejected it in a vote of 48 to 44 . Only one Democrat, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted in favor of the clean Continuing Resolution. Democrats held a press conference after sinking the Republican bill, the leader, Chuck Schumer, said it was time for Republicans to end the "theater" and sit down for a dialogue.

What's next

House Republicans would not return from their recess until after an eventual government shutdown was already underway. This is a way of telling the Democrats that there is no other option, the only alternative on the table is the Resolution already passed in the House. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, made this clear at a press conference after the vote, warning that if the Democrats do not approve the plan, the government shutdown will be imminent and they will bear the brunt of the consequences.

Although the leader of the Democrats, Senator Schumer has assured that the only option is for the Republicans to sit down and negotiate, that does not seem to be a possibility for the Republican Party, especially when the Democratic proposal is so partisan. It is important to remember that the last time a government shutdown was avoided, last March, Senator Schumer ended up supporting a Republican measure along with several Democratic senators, thus allowing the government to remain open.

In March, that decision cost Schumer heavy criticism from the most extreme members of his party. Democrats today face an internal battle between extremists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and moderates like the Senate leader. It is not clear what will happen, but for now the ball seems to be on the Democratic side, the bet on the Republican side seems close and, to be honest, it is a basic proposal and one that should be easy for any moderate to support. We will see if Schumer will once again stand up for his party and avoid the damage of an eventual government shutdown or if he will give in to the pressure of the most extreme.