Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is urging Senate Democrats to defy Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and vote against a stopgap funding bill and allow the federal government to partially shut down.
It is a rare instance of Democrat congressional leadership being at odds, with Pelosi, 83, who led House Democrats for 20 years, asking lawmakers to defy the party's Senate leader.
"Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America," Pelosi said Friday in a statement ahead of the Senate's vote on a continuing resolution that passed the House on Tuesday by a 217-213 margin.
The Republican-led Senate needs seven Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster and move to a floor vote on the measure, which would fund the federal government through the 2025 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The Senate faces a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Friday to pass the measure.
"Democratic senators should listen to the women," Pelosi said. "Appropriations leaders [Rep.] Rosa DeLauro [D-Conn.] and [Sen.] Patty Murray [D-Wash.] have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement.
"America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People."
Schumer initially said Democrats were unified in pressing for a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative to the House-passed bill. Democrats are under intense pressure to stop the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, led by Musk, which is tasked with streamlining the federal government by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
But Schumer changed course Thursday by saying he will vote to support the stopgap spending measure and urged his fellow Democrat senators to do the same.
"Let's be clear: neither is a good option for the American people," Pelosi said. "But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable. I salute [House Minority] Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y.] for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill."
One House Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, did vote for the bill, posting Thursday on X that "voting to shut down the government for the sake of performative protest was always reckless. As I said when I voted for the CR: Even a brief shutdown would bring even more chaos and uncertainty than we already face. Good for @SenSchumer."