US Senate fails to pass spending bill hours before shutdown deadline

Lawmakers have until midnight to avert federal agencies running out of money

The US Senate failed to pass a stopgap spending bill on Tuesday, just hours before the midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown.

Although Republicans hold a majority in the chamber, they need Democratic support to clear the bill under the current rules.

The Democrats refused to back the bill and proposed an alternative that would permanently extend healthcare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year and reverse planned cuts to Medicaid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the Republican bill as “extremely partisan” and accused the GOP of refusing to negotiate.

“Republicans know the American people want the Republican healthcare crisis fixed. But Republicans are about to shut the government down instead of fixing it,” Schumer wrote on X.

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Senate Republican leader John Thune blamed the Democrats for the looming shutdown, saying the GOP would not be “taken hostage” to provide “illegals free healthcare,” he told reporters after the vote.

President Donald Trump earlier warned of “irreversible” cuts to government programs and mass layoffs of federal employees if lawmakers fail to agree on a spending bill. The last government shutdown began on December 22, 2018 and lasted 35 days.