WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The House passed legislation Tuesday to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September.
In the Senate, the bill will need support from at least eight Democrats to get it to President Donald Trump’s desk. It’s one of the biggest legislative tests so far of the Republican president’s second term.
Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House on Tuesday is a “horrible” bill, but there’s growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic conference that it would be too risky to block the legislation and risk a government shutdown that could drag on for weeks.
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Senate Democrats battled behind closed doors Tuesday over how to handle the House bill, with a number of Democrats — especially those in swing states — arguing a government shutdown must be avoided, even if it means reluctantly voting for a House GOP-drafted bill.
Senate Democrats spent well more than an hour debating how to proceed at their weekly caucus lunch meeting in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room just off the Senate floor.
“The conversation today was divided. I can’t say we have a strategy,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on the internal deliberations. “There are a lot of people who haven’t made a decision.”
The lawmaker said Democrats are worried they would get the blame for a shutdown if they voted to defeat the House bill. The House is out of session for the rest of the week, upping the pressure on Senate Democrats.
NewsNation affiliate The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
