In the first real showdown since the election, Senate Democrats seem poised to give President Donald Trump and Elon Musk everything they want while pretending to oppose the Republican spending bill. The proposed maneuver would allow Democrats to feign opposition to the new administration’s power grab, while also giving the GOP enough votes to push their agenda through.

Senate Republicans do not have enough votes for cloture, a legislative procedure to end debate and move for a vote. Republicans only have a 53-47 seat majority, and 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture. If Democrats don’t provide enough votes for cloture, the government is almost certainly headed toward a shutdown Friday.

Despite promising a fight, Senate Democrats are reportedly considering a vote swap. In exchange for providing enough votes to end debate on the GOP spending bill, Senate Republicans would allow a Democratic amendment to continue to fund the government at current levels for the next month to come to the floor, known as a continuing resolution, or CR. The Democratic amendment........

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