The Senate on Friday narrowly averted a government shutdown at midnight, passing a G.O.P.-written stopgap spending measure after Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and a small group of Democrats joined Republicans in allowing it to advance.

The Senate voted Friday to advance a bill funding the government through September and averting a government shutdown, thwarting an effort by some Democratic lawmakers who had wanted to use a shutdown threat to curtail President Trump's mass firing of federal workers.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives to speak with reporters as Republicans work to pass an interim spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies funded through September, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) AP

Friday to pass a Republican-sponsored stopgap funding bill that averted a federal government shutdown. The vote was the second of two key votes that passed the bill: The advance vote: The Senate voted 62-38 to end debate on the bill – a cloture vote – and advance it to a final vote.

Dozens of House Democrats sent a letter to Schumer on Friday to express their “strong opposition” to his plan to back the Republican measure