House Democrats are furious at their fellow Democrats in the Senate for supporting a Republican spending bill, saying Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other aisle-hopping senators are set to empower President Trump to gut the government at the expense of their own constituents.
“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats, This is across the board — the entire party.”
The lower-chamber Democrats were virtually united on Tuesday in rejecting the partisan GOP spending package — a forceful show of opposition they hoped would inspire Senate Democrats to take the same resistant stand. And House Democratic leaders have also taken the rare step of publicly urging Senate leaders to reject the bill, which was crafted by House Republicans without Democratic input.
Huddled at their annual strategy retreat in Northern Virginia, House Democrats of all stripes had spent parts of Thursday bombarding their Senate colleagues with calls and texts urging them to kill the Republican bill.
Schumer rejected those entreaties, announcing Thursday evening that he won’t support a filibuster — the single most powerful tool at the disposal of the minority Democrats — but will join Republicans to help advance the proposal instead.
“The Republican bill is a terrible option,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs. But I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.”
That argument did nothing to satisfy House Democrats, who said Senate Democrats were abandoning the voters who sent them to Washington to fight against the GOP agenda.
“I cannot underscore enough how incorrect that is,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“It’s an awful decision,” echoed Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.). “People are angry. We were almost to a person in unison [on the House vote] … And a significant percentage of their caucus is voting to allow the Republicans to do whatever they want to do.”
The GOP spending bill extends government funding largely at current 2024 levels through September. But it also includes roughly $13 billion in cuts to non-defense programs, and roughly $6 billion in additional spending for the military.
Democrats oppose the spending cuts, warning that they’ll erode critical public services. But they’re sounding even louder alarms over the absence of specific language designed to ensure that the Trump administration spends the money as Congress intended — language House Republicans have rejected. That omission, the Democrats say, will allow Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump ally, and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to continue slashing federal agencies and programs unchecked by Congress.
“Right now they are openly saying that they will take this money that is in this bill and then they will just appropriate it for whatever they want,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said.
“People have to know what Democrats stand up for, and they’ve got to see us fighting for them,” she added. “And if we’re just the same, and we’re just going to enable Republicans to do what they’re doing, I think that’s obviously why people are frustrated.”
Another reason for that frustration is this: A long list of vulnerable House Democrats facing tough reelections, including a dozen who represent districts carried by Trump last November, had stuck with Democratic leaders in opposing the partisan measure. If Senate Democrats cave and help pass the GOP bill, some lawmakers said, then the risky vote was for naught.
“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing Elon Musk — I think it is a huge slap in the face.”
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, piled on, saying the GOP bill is specifically designed to allow Trump and Musk to continue plundering the taxpayers to enrich themselves.”
“First and foremost, Senate Republicans should back down from screwing over their own constituents,” Casar said. “And then second, Senate Democrats should do the same thing House Democrats did, which is fight for our constituents and block this bill.
“Democrats were elected to fight for working people, not put up a fake fight.”
It isn’t clear yet how many vulnerable Democrats in the Senate will follow Schumer’s lead. Several had said earlier in the day they would oppose the bill, and Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), both of whom represent swing states, said after Schumer’s announcement that they would vote “no.”
Still, Schumer as majority leader holds sway over his caucus and him voting “yes” could give others cover to do the same.
Ocasio-Cortez, for one, is not giving up the fight just yet. Heading into the late hours of Thursday night, the liberal New Yorker said she’s hoping the combination of pressure from angry constituents and House Democrats will force Schumer to reconsider.
“People are texting, calling, carrier pigeons,” she said. “And I know that many House Democrats are leveraging their relationships and hopefully can ensure that we do the right thing here.
“The idea that there’s nothing that we can do because — because what? Because people don’t want to stay on a Saturday?” she added. “We have much greater responsibilities to the American people than that.”
