Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted to block a defense spending bill on Thursday that would have provided funding to pay U.S. military members during the ongoing shutdown of the federal government.
According to The Daily Caller, the Senate voted 50 to 44 on Thursday to pass the annual defense appropriations bill, which would have allowed U.S. military members to continue receiving paychecks despite the continued government shutdown. The outlet noted that the annual defense appropriations bill also included a pay raise for service members.
The Daily Caller reported that Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Sen. Jeanne Shahen (D-N.H.), and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) were the only three Democrats in the Senate to join Republicans in passing the annual defense spending bill. While the bill received 50 votes in the Senate, it currently needs 60 votes to pass.
During a speech on the Senate floor following Thursday’s vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said, “Democrats just voted to block the Fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill, a bill, I would add, that passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by a robust bipartisan margin.”
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Thune explained that while Democrats voted last week to authorize a bill that would increase the pay of U.S. military members, the Democrats ultimately “voted against the bill that would actually pay the troops.”
In his speech, the Senate majority leader accused Democrats of voting against funding that would ensure U.S. service members continue getting paid in order to maintain “leverage” with regard to the federal government shutdown.
“I mean, who really cares, right, if the troops are paid as long as the Democrats are able to get what they want?” Johnson said. “If anything was needed to demonstrate just how fundamentally uninterested Democrats are in supporting our troops – and defending our country – just take a look at this vote!”
“They’re happy to sacrifice any American and evidently any principle to their political goals,” Thune added later in his speech. “Democrats like to position themselves as the party of the little guy and the defender of hard-working Americans, but as this vote makes clear, who do Democrats really care about? Democrats.”
The Daily Caller reported that military members would have been forced to continue serving without pay this week for the first time in the history of the United States if President Donald Trump had not issued an order to redirect Pentagon funding to temporarily provide funding for U.S. troops.
