In a stunning display of political gamesmanship, Senate Democrats blocked a defense spending bill on Thursday afternoon that would have ensured military service members were paid during the ongoing government shutdown. Senators voted 50 to 44, with only three Democrats breaking ranks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to advance the crucial defense appropriations bill. This setback is yet another chapter in the prolonged stalemate over the shutdown, as Democrats remain resolutely unwilling to cross party lines to reopen the government.
The bill in question would have funded the Department of Defense for the upcoming fiscal year and guaranteed that active-duty troops wouldn’t miss a paycheck during the shutdown. The legislation also included a much-needed military pay raise. If it had failed, military personnel would have gone without pay for the first time in U.S. history on Wednesday—until President Donald Trump stepped in, tapping unused Pentagon funds to cover troop pay temporarily. However, with the shutdown dragging on, there is no certainty that this temporary fix will last beyond November.
The defense appropriations bill, which had widespread bipartisan support in July, saw Democratic Senators John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire join Republicans in pushing for troop pay. Yet, despite that, the broader Democratic caucus blocked the measure, leading to a heated exchange in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t hold back in his condemnation, delivering a blistering speech on the Senate floor. "After voting last week for an authorization bill to increase troop pay, Democrats just voted against the bill that would actually pay the troops,” Thune remarked. “They’re happy to sacrifice any American and evidently any principle to their political goals.” He went on to say, “Democrats like to position themselves as the party of the little guy and the defender of hard-working Americans, but as this vote makes clear, who do Democrats really care about?”
Republican Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt echoed those sentiments, slamming the Democrats for not taking appropriations seriously. He said their resistance was “a losing argument with the American people,” arguing that Democrats were more interested in blocking President Trump than in supporting the troops.
Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, despite claiming earlier that Congress had an "obligation" to pay the military, ultimately voted against the defense appropriations bill. “We have an obligation, and now an opportunity, to pay our military in a lawful way instead of just moving funds from one account to another, as President Trump is doing,” Blumenthal stated.
The political gridlock continued as Democrats also filibustered a bipartisan funding measure on Thursday morning, prolonging the shutdown into its third week. Fetterman, Cortez Masto, and Maine Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, defied Schumer to join Republicans in voting to reopen the government. However, Schumer has made it clear that he will not support any funding measure unless Republicans agree to include unrelated healthcare policy demands, further dragging out the shutdown.
The government shutdown is now poised to stretch into next week, potentially making it one of the longest in American history. Senate leadership has shown frustration, with Thune emphasizing that Democrats' refusal to compromise is harming the country. "At some point, reasonable Democrats are going to have to come to the conclusion that this doesn’t benefit anybody,” Thune said during an interview with MSNBC. “I don’t believe government shutdowns benefit anybody, and that used to be a position that was held by the Democrat leadership.”
This impasse over funding has reached an alarming point, with the livelihoods of military personnel hanging in the balance. While Democrats continue to play politics, it’s clear that the American people are fed up with this irresponsible behavior. It’s high time they put the needs of our troops and the American people before partisan gamesmanship.
