GOP Senator Will Not Support CR As Government Shutdown Approaches

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will not support the six-month government funding measure that narrowly passed in the House of Representatives.

BREAKING: House Votes On CR

The GOP-led House passed the CR in a 217-213 vote.

JUST NOW: Senator Rand Paul says he will vote “NO” on the Continuing Resolution spending bill passed by the House yesterday. pic.twitter.com/KFmz2mXoFl

— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) March 12, 2025

"No fiscal conservative should support this" Paul said.

WATCH:

"No fiscal conservative should support this" @SenRandPaul weighing in on funding bill, Rising pic.twitter.com/WEiW2WCXyh

— Rising (@RisingTheHill) March 12, 2025

From The Hill:

Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House 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.

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.

Several centrists warned there’s no clear endgame for ending a government shutdown if Democrats defeat the House-passed measure, which would increase defense spending by $6 billion, boost funding for border security and cut nondefense programs by $13 billion.

The bill passed the House 217-213 Tuesday afternoon, with only one Democrat voting in favor. But the political calculus is different for Democrats in the Senate, because their votes will be needed to avoid a shutdown.

The GOP has the Senate majority with 53 seats, but the measure needs 60 votes in the legislative chamber to pass.

"Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.

WATCH:

.@SenSchumer: "Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that." pic.twitter.com/scABJblK8J

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 12, 2025

ABC News reports:

"There are really only two options: One is vote for a pretty bad CR. Or the other is to vote for a potentially even worse shutdown," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, following the House vote. "So it's a very tough choice,"

Democrats met for two hours Tuesday with no consensus on how they planned to handle the vote on the bill -- and the fissure is palpable.

Some Democrats are clearly leaning toward casting a painful vote to oppose the House package and effectively shut down the government.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., branded the House-passed CR a "shutdown bill" that Republicans will bear responsibility for in a floor speech Tuesday night.

"A budget is a reflection of our values," Warren said on the floor. "This proposal makes crystal clear where Republicans' values lie. After months of bipartisan talks, they're walking away from the negotiating table and offering a non-starter House bill that forces us to the brink of a full government shutdown. The Republican shutdown playbook is dangerous, and it will hurt working families."

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Though she did not expressly state how she plans to vote on the package, she said House Democrats were right to oppose the measure, and said the Senate should follow suit.