U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) enters the Capitol on January 27, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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The Senate on Thursday failed to clear key procedural hurdles on the government’s key funding measure, and the shutdown was scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday.
The six-item bill was widely expected to fail because Democrats want the Republican majority to strip funding to the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are calling for new limits on federal immigration enforcement after an agent shot and killed two Americans in Minneapolis this month.
The vote was 45-55, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in filibustering the bill. Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) voted against holding the motion to move again. The vote raises the possibility of a government shutdown this week and will force Senate Republicans to engage in negotiations with Democrats to find a solution.
In addition to the Department of Homeland Security, the failed policy would have provided funding to the Departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education. A spending bill needs at least 60 votes to avoid a Senate filibuster.
“Democrats stand ready to pass five bipartisan funding bills in the Senate,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on the floor Thursday. “We are 96% ready to fund the federal government today, but the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”
Any changes to the bill, including stripping DHS, would require a second vote in the House. The House of Representatives is in recess and away from Washington.
Republicans on Wednesday began opening the door to averting a government shutdown, expressing a desire to continue negotiations by withdrawing the DHS bill and clearing the way for the rest of the bill. Thune said Democrats are negotiating with the White House to move forward.
“Let’s hope it lands,” Thune told reporters Thursday.
“There is an avenue to look at some of these things and negotiate between Republicans, Democrats, the House, the Senate and the White House, but that’s not going to happen with this bill,” Thune said.
—CNBC’s Karen Sloan and Caleigh Keating contributed to this report.
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