Washington is gearing up for another government funding showdown, and the blame game is already in full swing.
As the Sept. 30, 2025, deadline to fund the government looms, Congressional Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are scrambling to unify their party and pin any potential shutdown on Republicans, Fox News reported.
Earlier in 2025, House Republicans pushed through a partisan funding extension that Senate Democrats grudgingly supported, though they’re now demanding a bigger seat at the table.
Fast forward to a recent Tuesday night in 2025, when Schumer and Jeffries huddled with top Democrats from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in a closed-door meeting to strategize for the looming deadline.
The goal? Coordinate a messaging plan and avoid a repeat of a messy March 2025 incident when Schumer broke ranks with Jeffries, flirted with a shutdown threat, but ultimately backed a temporary funding resolution.
The Democrats are keen to present a united front after previously hinting they might obstruct the appropriations process over partisan disagreements.
Just recently, Senate Democrats did support a funding bill for military construction and Veterans Affairs—the first to reach the Senate floor—but not without some earlier saber-rattling about voting it down due to Republican-led partisan legislation.
“We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process,” Schumer declared, before adding that Republicans are making it “extremely difficult.” Nice sentiment, but if bipartisan means caving to progressive demands, one wonders if the GOP will bite.
Meanwhile, Democrats are griping about trust issues with Republicans, citing two contentious bills—a grandiose measure dubbed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” and a $9 billion clawback package—pushed through without their input.
On the other side of the aisle, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who took the reins earlier in 2025, is vowing to restore regular order by passing all 12 annual spending bills individually, a feat not accomplished since the late 1990s.
“Frankly, I think a lot of us around here think [this] is long overdue,” Thune stated. And he’s not wrong—Washington’s addiction to last-minute continuing resolutions has left taxpayers frustrated for decades.
Thune also accuses Democrats of using the controversial rescissions package as an excuse to stall the appropriations process, potentially risking a shutdown as the Sept. 30 deadline nears.
House Speaker Mike Johnson isn’t mincing words, claiming Democrats are “gaming out how they can shut the government down.” That’s a bold charge, but given the left’s history of dramatic brinkmanship, it’s not hard to see why he’s skeptical of their intentions.
Not to be outdone, Jeffries fired back, saying, “House Republicans are marching us toward a possible government shutdown that will hurt the American people.” It’s a classic move—deflect responsibility while painting the other side as heartless, though many Americans might see through the theatrics.
Let’s be clear: with most Senate bills needing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, some bipartisan cooperation is non-negotiable, yet both sides seem more interested in scoring political points than securing the nation’s finances by Sept. 30, 2025.
