Chuck Schumer left blindsided as House Democrats reject his spending compromise with Trump, threatening another government shutdown

House Democrats are planning a major rebellion against the spending deal made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump’s White House. This move is a huge blow to the bipartisan compromise and means the partial government shutdown will continue, likely until Tuesday at the earliest.

This is a shocking turn of events, especially for Schumer, who thought he had found a solution. The federal government has been in a partial shutdown since early Saturday morning, after Congress missed the yearly budget deadline of January 30. While some areas are funded, critical departments like War, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Homeland Security are now without funding.

The deal that passed the Senate on Friday tried to fix the problem by combining five spending bills that the House had already approved. According to Fox News, the main issue was DHS. Instead of a long-term plan, the agreement would only fund DHS at current levels for two weeks. This temporary funding was meant to give both parties time to negotiate a longer-term bill with language to control Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

House Democrats refuse to follow Senate’s lead on government funding

House Democrats don’t feel required to follow the agreement their Senate colleagues made. Sources say many House members are frustrated that Schumer put them in a position where they were expected to accept the deal without any input. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned Speaker Mike Johnson right away that the Republican plan to fast-track the legislation on Monday evening would fail. Jeffries was non-committal about the package after the Senate passed it, publicly stating that the House Democratic Caucus would “evaluate the spending legislation passed by the Senate on its merits and then decide how to proceed legislatively.”

Speaker Johnson is now facing a tough situation. His original plan was to push the bills through under “suspension of the rules,” which would fast-track the legislation but require a two-thirds vote, meaning he needed strong Democratic support. 

Now that Democrats are rebelling, Johnson will have to rely on his very slim GOP majority, forcing the bill through the House Rules Committee and a difficult chamber-wide “rule vote” before a final vote can happen. The administration has faced mounting challenges recently, including Trump’s controversial communication with European leaders.

The GOP isn’t united either, which makes Johnson’s problems worse. Some conservatives are already worried about the compromise requiring them to negotiate with Democrats on President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Others, like Representative Anna Paulina Luna, are using the shutdown threat as leverage. Luna said she wouldn’t support the legislation unless it included an unrelated GOP bill requiring proof of citizenship in the voter registration process.

The political divisions are creating real instability. As one House Republican said, “Democrat division creates another government shutdown.” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer expressed clear distrust of his counterpart, saying, “We can’t trust the minority leader to be able to get his members to do the right thing. That’s the issue.” The Trump administration continues to navigate various political controversies, including a resurfaced tax return leak scandal.

The failure to act quickly is terrible news for millions of people. Beyond the political drama, this deadlock risks delaying or stopping paychecks for essential workers, including military service members and airport personnel, while also threatening funding for natural disaster management and federal healthcare services. This isn’t just a budget fight; it’s affecting real lives.