Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons suggested he would vote to shut down the government at the end of September, claiming President Donald Trump has given Senate Democrats no choice but to support a lapse in government funding.
Coons is the latest Senate Democrat to threaten his support for a partial government shutdown to protest President Donald Trump’s agenda, including the White House’s recent request to claw back billions in foreign aid funds. The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and Senate Democrats have signaled they are willing to plunge the country into a government shutdown in part to show the party’s base they are fighting harder against Trump.
“Trump and his allies in Congress have already been shutting down whole parts of the government,” Coons told NPR in an interview on Tuesday. “If they continue with those efforts, I won’t support keeping the government open September 30, because they’re already closing it in ways that are illegal.”
The Trump administration asked Congress on Friday to rescind $5 billion in unused funding for foreign aid and U.S. peacekeeping operations. Democrats have blasted the president over the “pocket rescission” because the administration intends to cancel the funding regardless of whether Congress approves the request. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has declared the move illegal despite permitting pocket rescissions made by former Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also teased his support for a partial government shutdown on Tuesday, citing the rescission request canceling funding for U.S. peacekeeping operations abroad and the largely-dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“[A]s we near the funding deadline, Republicans are once again threatening to go-at-it-alone — heading our country towards a shutdown and making the health care crisis even worse,” Schumer wrote in a letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus. “With the Trump Administration’s attempt of the so-called ‘pocket rescission,’ it is clear that Republicans are prioritizing chaos over governing, partisanship over partnership, and their own power over the American people.”
“Senate Republicans must decide: stand up for the legislative branch or enable Trump’s slide toward authoritarianism,” Schumer added in the letter.
The White House appears to be calling Senate Democrats’ bluff that the caucus would support a partial government shutdown as Trump officials advocate for years-long continuing resolution (CR) to fund government operations for fiscal year 2026.
“I understand the argument from Democrats, but it’s very hard for me to believe that they’re going to oppose a clean CR that would cause them to be responsible for a government shutdown,” a White House official told reporters on Friday.
However, Schumer encountered scathing criticism from his party for supplying the necessary votes to avert a partial shutdown in March. Schumer scrapped a scheduled book tour amid the fury and several Democratic Senate hopefuls said they would not support him remaining the top Democrat in the upper chamber.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly stated that Republicans are willing to work with Democrats to net the necessary 60 votes to keep government operations running. He has warned that Democrats will be seen as responsible for causing a “Schumer Shutdown” if they vote en masse against a GOP spending deal.
A spokesperson for Coons did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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