Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., heads to the Senate Chamber to vote on a bill on Jan. 22, 2025, in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Still, after meeting behind closed-doors Tuesday afternoon, Democrats ultimately provided enough votes to advance the bill, which would fund military construction and the VA. The vote allows for lawmakers to make amendments and debate the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the meeting that Democrats were still gunning for a bipartisan spending deal, effectively opening the door for his conference to back the spending bill package for now.
"We're working together to get one," Schumer said. "But the bottom line is, Republicans are making it much harder. Rescissions, impoundment, pocket rescissions directly undoes this."
The bill advanced on a 90 to 8 vote, with Schumer and the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican to open debate on the bill.
Democrats were largely frustrated with the passage of Trump’s rescissions package last week, which slashed funding from foreign aid and public broadcasting, arguing that doing so dissolved trust between the parties when it came to crafting spending bills.
CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FACE BRUISING BATTLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Sen. John Fetterman during the sixth installment of The Senate Project moderated by FOX NEWS anchor Shannon Bream at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate on June 2, 2025, in Boston. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
But, passage of the first bill, and the ensuing amendment process leading to a final vote, does not guarantee that the appropriations process will go smoothly before the deadline hits in the next couple of months.
Congress has not passed spending bills through a process called regular order since the late 1990s and has typically relied on short government funding extensions, known as continuing resolutions, and year-end, colossal spending packages, known as omnibuses, to keep the lights on in Washington.
Disagreements over funding levels between the Senate and House, coupled with lingering questions about whether Schumer will continue to play ball with Republicans, could tee up another showdown around the September deadline.
Schumer said that he would have a confab with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and the top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations committees, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Murray, "to discuss the appropriations process in both the House and the Senate in the weeks ahead."
"With so much hard work ahead, the government funding deadline only less than 25 legislative days away, Republicans should be focused on working with us to deliver for American families," he said.
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Sen. John Fetterman, who earlier this year voted with Republicans and a handful of his Democratic colleagues to thwart a partial government shutdown, had a stern message for Senate Democrats that may want to obstruct the government funding process.
"I will never, ever vote to shut our government down," the Pennsylvania Democrat told Fox News Digital. "That's a core responsibility. And now we may not like a lot of these changes to things, and I don't, but I'm saying that's the way that democracy works."
"And now shutting the government down, how could you do that and plunge our country into chaos," he continued.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-weathers-dem-opposition-advances-first-government-funding-bill