US Congress Fails to Pass Stopgap Spending Bill in Senate... Heightened Risk of Shutdown

The United States Congress has failed to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a temporary federal government shutdown.

On September 19 (local time), the House of Representatives held a plenary session and passed a short-term spending bill to maintain current federal government spending levels for seven weeks until November 21, with 217 votes in favor and 212 against.

Yonhap News Agency

This bill was created to avoid a shutdown due to disagreements between the Republican and Democratic parties over the federal government budget for the next fiscal year (October 2025 to September 2026). If the budget is not passed by September 30, a federal government shutdown will begin on October 1, so the purpose of the bill was to extend the deadline to November 21.

However, although the bill passed the House under Republican leadership, it was rejected in the Senate with 44 votes in favor and 48 against, falling short of the 60 votes required for passage.

Among Republicans, fiscal hawk Rand Paul (Kentucky) voted against the bill, arguing that it would extend spending from the previous Biden administration. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who had expressed serious concerns about the Medicaid cuts signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year, also voted against it. All Democratic senators opposed the bill, except for John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), who was the only Democrat to vote in favor.

In the Senate, a Democratic alternative that would have set a shorter deadline to avoid a shutdown by October 31 was also put to a vote but was defeated with 47 votes in favor and 45 against.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, pointed out, "President Donald Trump made it clear to Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats," and accused the Republican Party of wanting a shutdown.

President Trump also criticized the Democratic Party over the failure of the continuing resolution. On his social media platform, Truth Social, he wrote, "I appreciate Senator Fetterman voting for us, but the Democrats want a shutdown of our country. They want open borders and to end the war on crime. Yet, Washington, D.C. has finally become safe."

He further added, "Democrats allow men to participate in women's sports and want transgender rights for everyone. If they don't get what they want, they will prevent the government from operating."

With the failure to pass the continuing resolution, the likelihood of a federal government shutdown has increased. Congress will enter a one-week recess starting that afternoon, and if this schedule remains unchanged, there will be little time left to prevent a shutdown after lawmakers return.