Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader (D-NY), announced on Thursday that he would act later in the afternoon to advance a bill bipartisan funding for government after Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.). Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) announced Thursday that he will act later in the day to advance a bipartisan government funding bill.

Schumer stated that the Senate may now have to act before the House to avoid a shutdown of the government, even though the House is supposed to be the one to initiate government funding bills.

“Later today I will file cloture for a legislative tool that allows us to avoid a Trump Shutdown in the event the Speaker doesn’t work with us bipartisanly and bicamerally.” The two sides will spend the next couple of days figuring out how to keep the government running,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Johnson and other House GOP leadership have not yet unveiled a plan B that would garner enough votes to pass in the lower chamber.

The funding stopgap for six months tied to legislation that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote failed by a vote 202 to 220 on Wednesday, with 14 Republicans voting it down.

Democrats claim that the requirement of documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote is a “poison” pill, which cannot be passed by Congress. Many lawmakers from both parties also say they do not want to postpone the annual spending bills until March for fiscal year 2025.

Before Wednesday’s vote, former President Trump encouraged Republican lawmakers to allow the government to shut down if Democrats refused to agree to stricter rules for voter registration.

He wrote on Truth Social that Republicans should refuse to agree to a Continuing Resolution if they don’t understand the SAVE Act and its entirety.

Schumer, Johnson and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, as well as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, still have a few days to negotiate an agreement for a funding solution that will last three months, but the time is short.

GOP senators have said that they prefer Johnson bring a clean continuing resolution of three months to the House floor in the coming days, so the House could continue to act first on funding legislation. They are willing to work with Senate Democrats in order to pass a law first, if Johnson cannot muster the votes necessary to get a funding bill passed by the House.

By filing today, I give the Senate maximum flexibility to prevent a shutdown. Democrats and Americans do not want a Trump shut down. Schumer: “I daresay that most Republicans in this chamber don’t want a Trump shut down.”