Schumer lowered his arms and encouraged Senate Democrats to vote in favor of the Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) encouraged Senate Democrats to vote in favor of the Republican Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. After previously announcing that he would block the legislation already passed by the House of Representatives, the Democratic leader changed strategy and made this known on the floor of the Upper House.

Making it very clear that he does not like the CR pushed by Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, Schumer opened the door for his colleagues to vote to avoid the shutdown.

"It’s not really a decision. It’s a Hobson’s choice. Either proceed with the bill before us or risk Donald Trump throwing America into the chaos of a shutdown. This, in my view, is no choice at all. While the [house bill] is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse," he said.

Schumer's change of position came after a lunch held by Senate Democrats, with the aim of deciding on a plan of action on the CR. As reported from The Hill, although the more progressive ones supported voting no, the more centrist ones weighed that triggering a shutdown would hurt Democrats more than Trump, especially those senators in key states up for renewal of their seat in 2026, such as Jon Ossoff of Georgia or Mark Warner of Virginia.

As explained from the Wall Street Journal, Schumer and the Democrats "threw in the towel on trying to block Republicans’ stopgap bill funding the government."

"But Democratic senators also worried that a shutdown, rather than forcing Republicans to the table, would simply play into Trump’s hands, potentially giving him enhanced power to shutter more parts of the federal government for good, with no obvious way out," they added from the cited media outlet.

Previously, Democrats had supported an alternative proposal to avoid a shutdown. Their alternative would only fund the government for 30 days, giving Congress more time to draft a more elaborate text. However, with no majority in either chamber, it had virtually no chance of passage.

The vote is expected to take place on Friday, coincidentally the deadline to avoid a shutdown, something that has not happened since 2019.