Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman lashed out at fellow Senate Democrats for risking a partial government shutdown on Thursday morning. In a post on X, Fetterman dismissed their opposition to the government spending bill as “total theater” and stressed the urgent need to prevent a funding lapse, warning that it could trigger a recession.
His remarks challenge Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s assertion that Democrats are united in opposing the GOP spending bill designed to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Absent at least eight Senate Democrats joining Republicans in passing the House GOP’s stopgap spending bill—a continuing resolution—the government is set for a partial shutdown after midnight on Friday, the Daily Caller reported.
“Shut the government down, plunge the country into chaos, risk a recession or Exchange cloture for a 30 day CR that 100% fails,” Fetterman wrote. “The House GOP CR will then pass the Senate because it only needs 51 votes. Total theater is neither honest with constituents nor a winning argument.”
Fetterman’s criticism of Senate Democrats’ tactics in the government funding as not being honest with their constituents nor a “winning argument” comes as Senate Republicans brand the looming expiration of government funding as the “Schumer Shutdown.”
“It seems to be a shutdown aimed at the drama that the Democrats need to show to their far-left wing,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday morning. “The people who are for open borders, the people who are for biological men playing in girls sports — they’re trying to show them that they’re putting up a fight and they’re willing to make the country suffer because the Democrats are held hostage by the far-left wing of their party.”
The Democratic Party’s base, along with members of the Progressive Caucus, has called on Senate Democrats to reject the GOP spending bill. The demand comes as Senate Democrats are grappling with near-record low approval ratings and faced another setback in their 2026 bid to reclaim the chamber when New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced Wednesday that she would retire rather than run for reelection. The resulting open seat is expected to be a prime pickup opportunity for Senate Republicans, potentially widening their 53-47 majority in the midterms.
Schumer said Wednesday that his party will oppose the GOP government funding bill and urged Senate Republicans to adopt a 30-day short-term funding measure crafted by Democratic appropriators instead, which would allow more time to negotiate an omnibus spending package—a proposal that is unlikely to gain support from Senate GOP leadership.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their [continuing resolution] without any input — any input — from congressional Democrats,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon. “Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR.”
