WASHINGTON — A day before a shutdown deadline, Senate Democrats are mounting a last-ditch protest over a Republican-led government funding bill that already passed the House but failed to slap any limits on President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to gut federal operations.

Senate Democrats are under intense pressure to do whatever they can to stop the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is taking a wrecking ball to long-established government agencies and purging thousands of federal workers from jobs.

Democrats are pushing a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative. But its prospects are dim in the Congress controlled by Republicans. And it’s unlikely the Democrats would allow a government shutdown, worried about the further chaos they say Trump and Musk could cause.

As the Senate opened Thursday, with one day to go before Friday’s midnight deadline, the Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “It’s time for Democrats to fish or cut bait.”

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Republicans Leverage Majority Control

Debates over funding the federal government routinely erupt in deadline moments but this year it’s showing the political leverage of Republicans, newly in majority control of the White House and Congress, and the shortcomings of Democrats who are finding themselves unable to stop the Trump administration’s march across federal operations.

In a rare turn of events, House Republicans stuck together to pass their bill, many conservatives cheering the DOGE cuts, leaving Democrats sidelined as they stood opposed. They House then left town, sending it to the Senate for final action.

Options for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer are limited, especially as the party is wary of fully withholding their votes and being blamed for a full shutdown of services.

Schumer announced that Democrats were unified in pressing for a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative to the House passed bill, which would instead fund operations through the end of the budget year in September.

With his party united, Schumer said the Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority, lack the support needed to reach the 60-vote threshold, which is required to overcome a filibuster.

But Senate Republicans have shown little interest in Schumer’s offer.

Democrats Face Tough Choices

What is more likely is that senators will have a chance to vote on the Democrats’ stopgap measure, but if it fails as expected, the Senate would then turn to the broader bill for passage, hours before Friday’s midnight deadline.

Over the next 24 hours, Democrats face the choice before them: provide the votes needed to advance the package or stand in the way of passing the funding bill in time to avoid a shutdown when money expires midnight Friday.

“They’ll cave,” predicted Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn of the Democrats.

Cornyn said the Democrats “have been railing against Elon Musk and the Trump administration over reductions in force of the federal federal employees, and now they basically want to put all of them out of work by shutting down the government.” He said, “I don’t know how you reconcile those two positions.”

But progressive Democrats, including allies in the House, are pushing Democrats to draw the line against Trump — even if it courts a federal shutdown.

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on social media that the House GOP bill will “supercharge Musk’s theft from working people to pay for billionaire tax cuts. Senate Democrats must stop it.”

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Economic Concerns and District Impact

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stepped into the fray, seeking to shift attention from Trump’s potentially damaging tariff war that has sent shudders through the U.S. economy.

“I can tell you what’s not good for the economy is this government shutdown,” Bessent said outside the White House. “I don’t know what Democrats are thinking here. They’re going to own it.”

But Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has called Trump and Musk “two billionaires to don’t know the first thing” about what American families need.

In an highly unusual turn, the House package also required the District of Columbia, which already approved its own balanced budget, to revert back to 2024 levels, drawing outcry from the mayor and city leaders who are pushing the Congress to revert course. They warn of steep reductions to city services.

Democratic senators, who have been huddling in private meetings this week, are assessing next steps.

“Both choices that we are being offered are full of despair,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.