Already shook by Donald Trump’s bold reforms, the US government may start to shut down completely this weekend as Democrats consider the politically dangerous alternative of rejecting the president’s proposals for federal financing.
The Senate is scheduled to hold a crucial vote on a Trump-supported package that was approved by the House of Representatives before midnight on Friday night, when there is a deadline to either finance the government or allow it to begin shutting down.
Democrats are facing tremendous pressure from their own grassroots to oppose Trump and reject a text they claim contains damaging budget cutbacks, even though the plan would keep the lights on through September.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that “even the Democrats admit it will be their fault if there is a shutdown.”
The bill’s chances of passing were boosted when leading Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, who has long maintained that shutting down the government is poor politics, said he would vote for it.
Others in the minority party — worried that they would be blamed over a stoppage with no obvious exit ramp — also appear ready to incur the wrath of their support base by backing down.
But Schumer has not explicitly told his troops which way to jump, telling reporters “each is making his or her own decision” and the vote remains on a knife edge.
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