'Everyone Needs to Call Their Dem Senator Right Now' to Stop Republican Funding Disaster

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and grassroots organizers were among those urging Americans to call their Democratic senators on Wednesday and demand that they vote against a Republican funding bill that would bolster the Trump administration's assault on the federal government and working-class families.

"Everyone needs to call their Dem senator right now. They are starting to cave," Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) warned in a social media post, alluding to comments from some Senate Democrats indicating that they could support the government funding package that Republicans rammed through the House on Tuesday.

"It should be very clear to every Senate Democrat that any vote for cloture will also be considered a vote for the bill," she added, referring to the process of ending debate on legislation. According to Punchbowl, one unnamed Democratic senator suggested a group of Democrats could vote with Republicans to end debate, which would mean the bill needs just a simple majority—and only GOP votes—to pass.

"People aren't going to be tricked with procedural games," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "They know exactly what is going on. Defend Medicaid. Vote NO on cloture. NO on bill."

People wanting to call their senators can use the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Democratic senators who are undecided on the funding package, according to one tally, include Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, has also not said which way he will vote, calling it a "very tough choice."

Senate Republicans will likely need at least eight Democrats to support the six-month funding measure, which calls for $13 billion in cuts to non-military spending and a $6 billion increase in military outlays. Opponents of the bill say the package would effectively create a "slush fund" for President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk by giving them wide discretion on how the approved funding is spent, while also attacking critical programs.

"To be clear, this isn't a 'clean' continuing resolution that would keep the government open while they negotiate, it's a slush fund that gives Trump and Elon Musk even more power over federal spending. Instead of trying to rein in the Trump and Musk power grab, this CR legitimizes it," said the progressive advocacy group Indivisible, which is imploring Americans to call undecided Democratic senators immediately.

Leah Greenberg, the group's co-executive director, wrote on social media that she is "hearing from sources that there is a very serious danger that Senate Democrats are on the verge of folding on the MAGA CR & giving up their leverage on the budget."

"The whispers we're hearing that key votes might fold are a huge red flag," Greenberg wrote. "Call NOW."

Indivisible is specifically demanding that Senate Democrats "use their leverage"—the threat of a government shutdown—to secure a bill that both "rejects extreme funding cuts and MAGA poison pills attacking abortion rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and immigrant communities" and "includes real, ironclad protections to stop Trump and Musk from hijacking federal spending."

"Until Republicans agree to these terms, Democrats must not support anything beyond a clean, two-week continuing resolution—keeping the government open without giving Trump and Musk a blank check," the group said.

"Business as usual must not continue. We call on you to withhold all votes for any spending bill until this stops."

The government will shut down at midnight on Friday if Congress doesn't pass funding legislation. Democratic appropriators have introduced an alternative measure that would keep the government funded at current levels for another month to give Congress additional time to negotiate full-year spending bills, but it's unlikely that Republicans—who narrowly control both chambers—would support it.

But some Senate Democrats appear willing to back the Republican bill.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already committed to voting yes, and others have signaled that they're open to supporting it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is reportedly taking a "neutral position" with his caucus, declining to advise members to vote one way or the other.

Citing an unnamed Senate aide, The Washington Post reported Wednesday that "some Democratic senators are 'furious' at Schumer for not having a strategy and message to counter the House Republican bill."

In a letter to Schumer and the rest of the Senate Democratic caucus on Wednesday, a coalition of nearly 150 advocacy groups urged the minority party to "stand strong in the fight to protect the federal government from an unprecedented assault."

"If Democrats do not stand up to Musk and Trump, they will continue to escalate their aggressive and illegal dismantling of key government functions, and they will keep illegally ignoring Congress," the groups wrote. "In light of this unprecedented assault on the government, business as usual must not continue. We call on you to withhold all votes for any spending bill until this stops."