Is a government shutdown imminent? President Donald Trump and the Senate’s top Republican said they don’t see a path to a bipartisan deal to fund the government, with 18 days left to make it happen.
The president and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., came out with slightly different messages Friday, but they both would lead to the same result — a government shutdown.
Trump doesn’t want GOP to work with Democrats
Trump is telling Republicans they don’t need to work with Democrats to reach an agreement.
“Don’t even bother dealing with them. We will get it through, because the Republicans are sticking together for the first time in a long time,” the president said on Fox and Friends.
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Republicans need at least seven Democrats in the Senate to get over the 60-vote threshold. Despite that, Trump wants Republicans to do it alone.
“If you gave them every dream, right now. Every dream that they want to give away money to this and that and then destroy the country; if you gave them every dream, they would not vote for it,” Trump added.
Thune believes Democrats want a government shutdown
“I think they see it as politically advantageous to have a shutdown. I think that their base is clamoring for that,” Thune told Punchbowl News. “I think they want to fight with the Trump administration, but they don’t have a good reason to do it.”
Thune said the House of Representatives and White House are trending toward a Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded for seven weeks, which will hopefully allow Congress to approve appropriations bills that will last for all of fiscal year 2026. The government was funded for all of 2025 on a Continuing Resolution. Lawmakers never finished the appropriations process.
Democrats want cuts reversed
Democrats want to reverse spending cuts that Republicans made in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, particularly to Medicaid. They also want to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that help low-income families pay their insurance premiums. Those are expiring this year.
“The bottom line is the bill they proposed can’t get our votes, doesn’t meet the needs of the American people, plain and simple,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
The Senate is the only place where Democratic votes are needed to approve a funding bill. The House only requires a simple majority, and Republicans have the numbers to pass the bill in that chamber.
