Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that Congress may be on the verge of a partial government shutdown this autumn due to pressure from the Democratic Party’s far-left wing.
Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has experienced significant pressure from his constituency and speculated that a few future votes may shed more light on the hazards of a partial shutdown.
“I think he [Schumer] probably thinks that it’s beneficial to their political base, the far left of the Democrat Party, and you can kind of see what’s happening up there in New York politics,” Thune told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo.
Schumer faced significant progressive criticism in March after declining to oppose a GOP-backed budget bill aimed at preventing a partial government shutdown.
The backlash was so strong that Schumer was forced to reschedule portions of his book tour as leftists urged Democrats in Congress to fight harder against President Donald Trump.
The Democrats are the minority party in the House and Senate, so they only have leverage with the Trump administration during government shutdowns.
To avert a shutdown, Congress must finance the government through 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution in each new fiscal year, which begins on October 1.
Both options are susceptible to a Senate filibuster, which takes 60 votes to overcome. Republicans have only 53 seats, so they will require Democratic support.
Currently, Congress has financed the government through a continuing resolution, which effectively means that it is on autopilot until the autumn.
“This is a party struggling for an identity. This is a party that’s completely out of step with the mainstream of this country. We’re going to be waiting to see anxiously what Chuck Schumer and other leaders on the Democrat side decide to do,” Thune added.
Earlier this month, Schumer chastised Republicans for pursuing a rescissions plan that would allow them to revoke previously approved expenditures without Democratic approval.
Schumer claimed that such a step would undermine discussions over the government shutdown.
“We are doing everything we can to keep the bipartisan appropriations process going,” Schumer told reporters earlier this month. “And they’re undermining it with rescissions, with pocket rescissions, with impoundment and every other way.”
Schumer’s inference is that Democrats cannot trust Republicans to adhere to the provisions of a bipartisan appropriations agreement because they have demonstrated a propensity to circumvent them through rescissions and presidential impoundment when Trump decides not to use specific allocated money.
Republican leaders, particularly those in the House, have long battled to persuade fiscal conservatives to support a continuing resolution or the 12 appropriations bills. The right side has made a strong push for more budget cutbacks, which Democrats find unacceptable.
Schumer must also manage dangerous leftist politics. The Democratic establishment was upended last month when Zohran Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
The top Senate Democrat is up for reelection in 2028 and has yet to announce if he would run, despite the danger of a challenge from “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“Ultimately, keeping the government funded is good for the country, and hopefully we will have bipartisan cooperation to do that,” Thune added.
“If their recent track record is any indication, they’re under a tremendous amount of pressure from that far left wing of the Democrat Party to shut the government down.”
The most recent partial closure of the federal government, which lasted for a total of 35 days, occurred between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 as a result of a disagreement between President Trump and Democrats on financing for the border wall.