Some congressional Democrats worry they have given Republican lawmakers a “playbook” to pass future spending bills that could grant President Donald Trump everything he wants for his agenda, according to a new report from Politico.
Their concerns intensified last week when ten Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), voted to approve a funding bill crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Nearly all House Democrats opposed the stopgap measure, arguing that it provided Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE “the leeway to continue slashing the federal government without oversight.”
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“Senate Democrats have already started discussing privately how to avoid getting rolled again,” wrote Politico’s Jordain Carney. “They bet this month that House Republicans would never be able to pass a stopgap funding bill without Democratic support, and Democrats hoped they could leverage that failure into a bipartisan deal. That assumption backfired when Speaker Mike Johnson called their bluff, sending the Senate a funding patch that passed the House with only one Republican opposing it.”
The report continued, “Some Democrats are now afraid that they inadvertently gave Republicans a playbook for government funding fights in the future: Cut Democrats out of the negotiations, muscle legislation through the House with only GOP votes, and bet they can jam the Senate.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) expressed his concerns, warning that Democrats set a “really dangerous precedent” with the vote. He questioned, “Why would Republicans work with us” moving forward, suggesting the deal may have weakened Democratic leverage in future negotiations.
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Schumer defended the decision, arguing that avoiding a government shutdown was more critical for federal workers than contesting provisions in the funding bill. However, the move has led to declining approval ratings for Congressional Democrats.
CNN’s Manu Raju reported Monday that Schumer canceled upcoming events intended to promote his new book on antisemitism due to security concerns. The decision follows anticipated mass protests against his failure to fight against the funding bill, raising further concerns over Democratic strategy heading into future legislative battles.
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