Senate Dems tank GOP plan to pay troops, fund Pentagon as shutdown hits Day 16
Republican leader Thune says blocking troop funding creates bad optics for Democrats
By Alex Miller , Leo Briceno Fox News
Published October 16, 2025 2:19pm EDT
Senate Republicans’ plan to reignite the government funding process was torpedoed by Senate Democrats, who blocked a bill that would pay the troops as the federal government entered Day 16 of the shutdown.
The annual defense appropriations bill was blocked largely along party lines on Friday, with only a handful of Senate Democrats joining Republicans to advance the measure. While President Donald Trump made a temporary move to ensure that military service members were paid, that funding won't last forever.
The only Senate Democrats to cross the aisle were Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Lawmakers are now headed home after a short week in Washington, D.C.
"I think the people in our military deserve to get paid," Fetterman said. "That's what my vote is about."
Had the bill advanced through its first procedural hurdle, lawmakers could have modified it to include other funding bills, a move that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signaled he planned to make throughout the week.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-dems-tank-gop-plan-pay-troops-fund-pentagon-shutdown-hits-day-16
