Democrats have only painful options: allow passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions, or vote no and give Trump free rein.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration before making clear he will not allow a government shutdown.
The New York senator said as bad as the GOP bill is, a shutdown would be worse, giving President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk "carte blanche" as they tear through the government.
"Trump has taken a blowtorch to our country and wielded chaos like a weapon," Schumer said. "For Donald Trump, a shutdown would be a gift. It would be the best distraction he could ask for from his awful agenda."
After Schumer announced he'd vote for the package, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated that House Democrats "remain strongly opposed" and would not be "complicit" in the GOP spending plan.
RELATED | Senate works to avert partial government shutdown ahead of midnight deadline
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her massive base of followers to oppose what she described as an "acquiesce."
"I think there is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters in Leesburg, Virginia, where House Democrats are huddling for their annual policy retreat. She said she and her fellow Democrats are "texting, calling, sending carrier pigeons," to mobilize the Democratic base against Schumer's plan to allow the GOP funding bill to advance.
And she slammed Senate Democrats for their decision to "completely roll over and give up on protecting the Constitution."
She wasn't the only Democrat to speak out.
"We are in a perverse bizarro land where we're having to decide between letting Donald Trump wreck the government this way or wreck the government that way," said New Jersey Sen Cory Booker.
Meanwhile, Schumer is winning praise from the president: "Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing - Took "guts" and courage!" Trump posted on his social media account.
Information from The CNNWire, ABC News, and the Associated Press was used in this report.
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