Are the Democrats Really to Blame for the Government Shutdown When the GOP Controls the White House, the US House and US Senate? Yes, They Are.
Yes, the Democrats are responsible for the shutdown. Here is why.
Democrats in Washington relentless blame Republicans for the government shutdown, because the GOP controls the White House and holds thin majorities in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As usual, their claims are not true. Democrats caused the shutdown by using U.S. Senate parliamentary procedure to stop debate from ending on the Continuing Resolutions needed to fund the government. Here is how it works.
Background on the Federal Budget Process and the Current Problem
I covered some of this in a recent post explaining how Democrats shut the government down, in part, to demand free healthcare for illegal aliens. For a deeper dive on how the Federal Budget Process works, read that article.
In summary, under The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the President of the United States submits a budget proposal to Congress and Congress votes on it. When Congress does not pass a budget, the federal government is funded using Continuing Resolutions. This is the current situation.
On September 19, 2025, the United States House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government on a mostly party-line vote of 217 to 212. As of October 28, 2025, the Democrats in the U.S. Senate blocked the government funding CR for the 13th time. How can the Senate Democrats block the government funding bill when Republicans hold a 53 seat Senate majority and two Senate Democrats and one Independent who joins the Democrats voted with Republicans to fund the government? The answer is the Senate Democrats are using a long-standing parliamentary procedure unique to the U.S. Senate called the “filibuster” to stop the funding bills from passing.
What is a Filibuster and How Does it Work?
The filibuster is based on the Senate tradition of unlimited debate. It is a procedure whereby Senators may prolong debate on a bill or other legislation to stop the bill from being voted on and passed. Originally, a filibuster was a lengthy speech, though today that rarely happens.
Some background on the Senate filibuster is in order.
The United States Senate has a long history of lengthy speeches being used to stop legislation from passing. The practice dates back virtually to the beginning of the United States Senate. In fact, until the 20th Century, Senators did not even have a procedure through which they could end debate on a bill. A Senator, or group of Senators, could literally “talk a bill to death.”
Then in 1917, the United States Senate approved Senate Rule XXII (22) which allowed for debate to be stopped by a two-thirds vote of the Senate (in other words, 67 of the 100 Senators were needed to end debate). Ending debate is known as cloture.
Several famous filibusters were led over the years, including a 15 hour, 30 minute filibuster by Louisiana Senator Huey Long in 1935, done to kill some New Deal Legislation and the record 24 hour, 18 minute filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 by Senator Strom Thurmond.
Filibusters, then, were seemingly never-ending speeches designed and intended to stop the United States Senate from voting on a piece of legislation. For much of the 20th Century, to end debate (cloture) 67 out of 100 U.S. Senators needed to vote in favor of ending debate. Only then could a vote on the actual bill take place.
Changes to the Filibuster in the 1970s
The U.S. Senate’s filibuster underwent significant revisions in the 1970s. First, in 1972, then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield created the “silent filibuster” by instituting a “two track system.” The two track system is described in the link above as follows:
In 1972, Senator Mike Mansfield introduced the “silent filibuster,” which effectively stopped debate on a bill whenever any senator indicated their desire to filibuster, cutting out the requirement of debate entirely. Under the new rules, the Senate considers the filibuster at one point during the day, then continues regular business at a different point in the day.
Thus, Senators are no longer required to stand before the United States Senate and pontificate endlessly for hours in order to actually filibuster. The National Constitution Center describes the modern filibuster as follows:
Today, a Senate filibuster does not actually require any “filibustering” (or lengthy speeches) at all.
Another substantial change occurred in 1975 when the U.S. Senate lowered the vote required to end debate (the vote in favor of cloture) from two-thirds or 67 votes to three-fifths or 60 votes. This is the current rule in effect in the U.S. Senate. A super-majority of 60 Senators must vote to end debate on a bill in order to vote on the bill.
The Democrats are Using the Filibuster to Shutdown the Government
A majority of the United States Senate voted over a dozen times to pass the Continuing Resolution to fund the United States government. A minority, consisting of 45 U.S. Senate Democrats, are filibustering to STOP the government from being funded. While 54 Senators vote to fund the government, the “tyranny of the minority” of Senate Democrats is holding the government funding hostage by refusing to stop debate on the Continuing Resolution through the filibuster, because Senate Rule XXII requires 60 Senators to vote to end debate.
All the while, the shameless Democrat Senators blame Republicans and President Trump for the government shutdown. What unbelievable dishonesty by Senate Democrats. The Senate Democrats do not have enough votes to defeat the Continuing Resolution or to pass a CR of their own, so they use the filibuster and the need for a 60 votes super-majority to STOP the government from being funded, then blame everyone else for the chaos they created.
Conclusion
The Democrats caused this shutdown. They demanded it. They used Senate rules to create it. They perpetuate it. The Democrats own it. Yet, in spectacular fashion the Democrats shamelessly, endlessly LIE about the shutdown and falsely claim Republicans are to blame for it. This level of dishonesty, hypocrisy and hubris is hard for decent people to endure.
Be certain to inform as many of your friends and family as possible about the truth about this shutdown. Once enough people know the truth, and make enough noise, the Democrats will stop filibustering and end the shutdown. After the shutdown ends, make equally certain the Democrats pay at the ballot box for their treachery. That will be a lesson they won’t soon forget.
(My latest book Fake News Exposed: 25 of the Worst Media Lies about Conservatives, Guns, COVID and Everything Else is available at Amazon. You may also pick up a copy of one of my other books at Amazon as well.)