The potential for another Democratic Party-led government shutdown looms large as Senate conservatives seek to curb “political passion projects.”
Only weeks after overseeing the longest recorded government shutdown in history and accomplishing nothing for the trouble, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (NY) Democrats appear poised to tilt at windmills anew. Standing in the way of their quixotic mission for campaign talking points — if not to sway spineless RINOs — Republicans in favor of cutting wasteful spending are endeavoring to set up another losing scenario for the left.
After the previous shutdown ended after 43 days, a new funding deadline was set for Jan. 30, 2026, as the upper chamber worked toward passage of a so-called minibus bill that would fund the vast majority of the federal government through September 2026.
Regarding the appropriations package, Florida Sen. Rick Scott was joined by fellow conservative Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in aiming to strip the legislation of unnecessary and unrelated earmarks.
“Democrats are trying to turn this appropriations package into another slush fund for their political passion projects–adding earmarks for groups that undermine @POTUS & want the Green New Deal,” wrote Scott on X. “Taxpayer dollars should not be used to push Dems’ far-left agenda. We must stop this!”
Democrats are trying to turn this appropriations package into another slush fund for their political passion projects—adding earmarks for groups that undermine @POTUS & want the Green New Deal.
Taxpayer dollars should not be used to push Dems’ far-left agenda. We must stop this!
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 15, 2025
Speaking to the possibility of another Schumer-led shutdown, establishment Republicans like Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Maine Sen. Susan Collins acknowledged the likelihood of it happening.
“They may be tempted to do it, as disastrous as the last one was,” Cornyn told The Hill. “Schumer’s not in any different political position than he was back then.”
“He’s afraid of the Democratic base,” added the senator facing a fierce primary battle in 2026.
Likewise, Collins, who is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, expressed, “My worry is if we don’t pass this five-bill package, we will end up in a shutdown.”
With a new government funding deadline set for Jan. 30, 2026, Democrats are digging in their heels over the same lost fight to extend expiring health insurance subsidies that they are responsible for sunsetting.
“The fight is not over,” The Hill quoted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) called Republican opposition “an outrage.”
He anticipated that the end of the tax credits “is going to result in a lot of pain for a lot of people” as projections anticipate nearly 5 million Americans will lose health insurance coverage in 2026 and over 20 million will see a dramatic increase in costs as those who get their insurance via the Affordable Care Act marketplace may see an increases of 26%.
Meanwhile, an anonymous Democratic senator told the outlet that another shutdown was possible without passage of the so-called minibus bill, while acknowledging passage of the Senate appropriations bill would severely limit any believed leverage.
“If they [bring] the group of five bills to the floor and we get them coordinated with … the House, then essentially you have appropriations bills for 85, 95 percent of the government by the end of January, and shutdown doesn’t mean much,” said the senator while suggesting if those bills don’t advance, “Then that raises this interesting question: Do we shut down over health care or Venezuela or Epstein files not being delivered?”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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