What’s going on with the potential government shutdown right now?
What does a government shutdown mean? When does the Senate vote? And everything else you need to know about the looming government shutdown.
One day before the government shutdown deadline hits, Senate Democrats are trying to stop a Republican-led bill that could give President Donald Trump’s administration free rein to dismantle federal agencies and operations.
The new bill, which has already passed through the House and Trump has indicated support for, fails to slap on any limits toward the president or billionaire Elon Musk’s already ongoing efforts to purge thousands of federal workers from their jobs.
If passed, it would temporarily fund the government through Sept. 30. Democrats are attempting to push a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative, but its chances are slim thanks to a Republican-controlled Congress.
» READ MORE: Another government shutdown looms — what’s different about it this time around?
“It’s time to fish or cut bait,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said when the Senate opened Thursday, with one day to go before deadline.
Here’s what to know ahead of final decisions.
When is the Senate voting?
A vote for or against the spending bill passed by the House would likely take place Friday.
Senators will also likely have a chance to vote on the Democrat-led stopgap measure, but if it fails, the Senate would turn to the broader House-passed bill for passage ahead of the shutdown deadline.
What have Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats said about the funding bill?
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the Democrats would reject the House-passed government funding bill as it stands.
He added that the Democrats were unified in pushing for a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative. The stopgap would temporarily fund operations through Sept. 30.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, calling for a one-month funding bill that would provide more time to negotiate a deal.
Senate Republicans have shown little interest in the Democrat-led short-term bill. They say the funding bill’s fate rests with Schumer.
Is John Fetterman voting for the funding bill?
Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) said he would support the Democrat-led stopgap funding bill, but he’d also likely vote for the Republican-led bill if push came to shove because in his eyes, it beats a government shutdown. Fetterman has said he wouldn’t be OK with a shutdown.
What does a government shutdown mean?
A government shutdown occurs if Congress cannot reach some sort of agreement on 12 individual appropriation measures that represent all federal operations.
The existing spending plans expire on March 14, marking the end of the existing continuing resolution passed in December 2024 to avoid a shutdown. If the appropriations bill or an extension isn’t passed and signed by then, it means funding for the new fiscal year isn’t in effect and the government could either completely or partially shut down.
When a shutdown happens, the government isn’t able to spend money — with some exceptions — meaning that federal employees across the country are expected to work without pay until after the shutdown ends. In turn, essential services will continue to operate, but resources will be significantly strained.
When was the last government shutdown?
The last time a government shutdown took place, it lasted more than 35 days from December 2018 through January 2019 while Trump was serving his first term as president.
It marked the longest shutdown in history and was also the second under Trump’s presidency. That shutdown ended after East Coast airports faced major delays when unpaid air traffic controllers stopped coming to work.
Unlike during the last shutdown, today’s Congress features a divided Republican majority, making a consensus even harder to reach.
Democrats have also suggested that Republicans don’t have the 60 votes they’d need to defeat a filibuster. At least eight Senate Democrats would have to join the 53 Republicans to clear a 60-vote threshold and advance the bill toward a final vote.
Some Democrats, including Fetterman, worry that a shutdown would be worse than accepting any bill, regardless of if they agree with the terms or not.
When is the government shutdown deadline?
Congress and the Trump administration need to reach an agreement by the end of the continuing resolution’s deadline, which is March 14 at midnight. If they don’t, the shutdown would go into place on March 15 at 12:01 a.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.