Schumer claims victory as Senate moves to avert shutdown GOP says he got played

The Senate quietly moved its solution to halt a government shutdown through another key step as the tenuous truce between Republicans and Democrats continues to hold.In the midst of a hectic, albeit open-ended and uncertainty-laden schedule, the upper chamber advanced its continuing resolution (CR) unanimously on Wednesday.While not the final vote, it’s a strong sign that neither side wants to thrust the federal government into uncertainty as the midterms near.It marks a sharp departure from the shutdown politics of the last year and follows Senate Republicans had been hand-wringing for months that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would once again lead his caucus to the brink and shut the government down for political gain.DEMOCRATS BLINK AS SCHUMER HELPS GOP CLEAR KEY SHUTDOWN HURDLESenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference following Senate Democratic policy luncheons at the U.S.

Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 2026.(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)For now, that’s not happening.And Schumer is messaging that Democrats, all along, have wanted to keep the lights on in a bipartisan manner.He contended that the CR, negotiated between the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, was a major victory for Democrats, particularly for its design to "stave off Trump's disgraceful effort to withhold federal grants from vital projects.""I mean, what kind of country is this? You have two identical projects, one in a red state and one in a blue state funded the same way, same clean record," Schumer said.

"He cancels the blue state one and says the red state one is okay."TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING OVER $1B IN MEDICAID PAYMENTS TO MINNESOTA, CALIFORNIA OVER FRAUD, COMPLIANCE CONCERNSThe Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Trump administration are pushing for more control over federal grants, which critics like Schumer and others warn could be used as a political cu...