There will be no government shutdown. The Senate easily passed Speaker Mike Johnson's continuing resolution that the House of Representatives had previously approved. With only 10 Republican Senators and one Democrat voting against, Chuck Schumer highlighted the "bipartisan cooperation" that made it possible to reach a deal similar to the one that cost Kevin McCarthy the his position as speaker. In fact, moving forward with the initiative did have a cost for Johnson. Members of the Freedom Caucus will now block an additional spending bill that will have to be taken up after the Thanksgiving break.
I have good news for the American people: There will be no government shutdown this Friday night.
Because of bipartisan cooperation, we are keeping the government open without any poison pills or harmful cuts to vital programs.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 16, 2023
Schumer praises Johnson for resisting pressure from GOP hardliners
The final vote in the Senate ended in 87-11 , given the absences of Republicans John Cormyn and Tim Scott. The Democratic majority leader stressed before the media that it was "a very, very good night for the American people." Schumer also highlighted the cooperation between the two major parties to prevent the government from running out of funding and praised speaker Johnson for resisting pressure from his party colleagues.
Obviously, the Republican-led House needed Democratic votes to avoid a shutdown, and I was pleased to see that the speaker was willing to work with Democrats and resisted the siren song of the hard right in the House. And if that continues, we can avoid further shutdowns and finish the work of funding the government.
Freedom Caucus opposition
However, members of the Freedom Caucus showed that they will not make it easy for Johnson. Just 24 hours after the speaker put forward the proposal to avoid the shutdown at the hands of the Democrats, the group of hardline conservatives shot down a second bill pertaining to government spending. After the vote, the session adjourned, and lawmakers left for the Thanksgiving holiday.
