The Japan Times - US shutdown threat piles pressure on government hit by Trump cuts

Facing a Friday night deadline to fund the government or allow it to start winding down, the Senate is set to vote ahead of the midnight cut-off on a Trump-backed bill passed by the House of Representatives.

The deal would keep federal operations going for another six months, but Democrats are under pressure from their grassroots activists to defy Trump and reject a text they say is full of harmful spending cuts.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer -- who has long insisted that it is bad politics to shut down the government -- said he would support the bill, a move seen as improving its chances of success.

"President Trump and Republicans leaders would like nothing more than to pull us into the mud of a protracted government shutdown. For Donald Trump, a shutdown would be a gift," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

"It would be the best distraction he could ask for from his awful agenda. Right now, Donald Trump owns the chaos in the government."

He was joined by Pennsylvania's John Fetterman, while other Democrats -- worried that they would be blamed over a stoppage with no obvious exit ramp -- also appeared ready to back down.

But Schumer has not explicitly told his troops which way to jump, telling reporters "each is making his or her own decision" and adding to the suspense of a vote that could still go either way.

- 'Fish or cut bait' -

There have been four shutdowns where operations were affected for more than one business day, with the last occurring during Trump's first term.

During the disruption, up to 900,000 federal employees can be furloughed, while another million deemed essential workers -- from air traffic controllers to police -- work without pay.

Social Security and other benefits are protected, but there are typically delays in a variety of services while parks shut and food-safety inspections are halted.

The latest tussle is focused on Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), unofficially spearheaded by tycoon Elon Musk, the world's richest man.

DOGE aims to cut federal spending by $1 trillion this year and claims to have made savings so far of more than $100 billion, although verified cost savings amount to less than a tenth of that figure.

Grassroots Democrats, infuriated by what they see as the SpaceX and Tesla CEO's lawless rampage through the federal bureaucracy, want their leaders to fight hard to defy DOGE and Trump.

The Senate has rules to encourage bipartisan working, meaning the funding bill is likely to need support from eight members of the Democratic minority.

This looked like a bridge too far earlier in the week for Democrats furious that the legislation contained no language to rein in Musk.

But several top party figures have warned that a shutdown could play into Musk's hands, distracting from DOGE's most unpopular actions and making it easier for him to announce more lay-offs.

Republicans voiced confidence that the needed Democratic support would be available, with several opposition senators facing challenging reelection fights in the 2026 midterms and wary of being blamed for chaos in Congress.

One of the most vulnerable, Georgia's Jon Ossof, said however that he was a firm no, berating Republican authors of the bill for failing to "impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump administration."

But John Thune, the Republican leader of the Senate, put Democrats on notice that it was "time for Democrats to fish or cut bait."

"Democrats need to decide if they're going to support this funding legislation, or if they're going to shut down the government," he said.

K.Inoue--JT