Klobuchar and Smith vote no as U.S. Senate passes continuing resolution

WASHINGTON - A partial government shutdown was avoided Friday when the Senate approved a bill to keep the government funded through the end of September.

Senators sent the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for approval in a 54-46 vote. Minnesota’s senators both opposed it.

Democrats generally opposed the bill, known as a continuing resolution, because they said Republicans did not work with them on it and rejected the steep spending cuts it made. But they also did not want to be responsible for effectively voting to shut down the government either, fearing that President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk would use a shutdown as an opportunity to further dismantle the federal government.

They were put in the spotlight earlier in the day when the measure narrowly cleared a nail-biting procedural vote to advance it to final passage

Minnesota Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar voted against advancing the bill and its final passage.

Smith said Thursday that she could not back the continuing resolution because it would not support the spending and policies that Congress passed last year and would slash a number of programs.

“Donald Trump and Republicans are forcing two terrible choices on us, both of which are bad for the people of this country, and would hand unchecked power to President Trump and Elon Musk as they slash and burn government services on their own terms,” she said in a statement.

“President Trump and House Republicans wrote this bill on their own, with no consideration for my views or any of my Democratic colleagues, and they will own the consequences,” she later continued.

“From the beginning, President Trump and the Republicans set this up as an unprecedented power grab.”

While Smith was quick to make her position known, Klobuchar, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, waited till hours before the initial procedural vote to unveil her plans.

“I will not support the partisan proposal in part because it does not include Minnesota infrastructure projects, undercuts medical care and research, and makes major changes to reduce veterans’ health care, including for those exposed to burn pits,” she said in a statement.

Heading into the vote, Klobuchar and Smith said they supported a short-term, 30-day funding plan backed by Democrats — a stand that Klobuchar reiterated on Friday.

Klobuchar’s statement drew mixed reactions. Some took to X to say Minnesota’s senior senator should be the next minority leader as calls grew for New York Sen. Chuck Schumer to step aside after he announced he would vote for the bill.

But others were not pleased. Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak called her statement a “bland non-statement that misses the moment.”

Senate Democrats faced pressure from their own party in the House as its leadership and others in the caucus urged them to reject the bill.

“Senate Democrats have a responsibility to stand up against their Republican colleagues and block this harmful and radical funding proposal that betrays our commitments to our communities,” Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig said in a statement.

Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota joined Democratic colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee in a letter to Senate Democrats urging them to oppose the bill.