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The Senate adjourned late Saturday for its summer break without a deal on fast-tracking confirmation of President Trump’s nominees, setting up a September battle over the nominations and government funding.
Mr. Trump said Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer engaged in “political extortion,” demanding more than $1 billion in exchange for confirming “a small number” of nominees.
“This demand is egregious and unprecedented, and would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if it were accepted,” the president posted on social media. “Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!”
Mr. Schumer declined to share details of the negotiations but said Senate Republicans were “befuddled” that Mr. Trump pulled the plug on the emerging agreement.
“Many of the Republicans told me they’re totally confused,” he said. “But they all know one thing: Donald Trump needed to get his way.”
Neither side disclosed the exact parameters of the potential deal, but Democrats generally wanted the Trump administration to unfreeze spending Congress had previously appropriated.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “both sides maybe thought there was a deal,” but they were unable to close it out.
“The asks evolved on both sides quite a bit over time,” the South Dakota Republican said. “But in the end, you know, we never got to a place where we had both sides agreed to lock it in.”
The Senate did confirm 10 Trump nominees on Saturday before it adjourned, including former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Trump had suggested just two days prior that the Senate should remain in session until it cleared more than 150 nominations on the executive calendar, ones that had cleared committee and were awaiting a floor vote.
But after prospects of cutting a deal with Democrats fell apart, he decided to let the chamber adjourn so Republicans could go back to their districts and message on their party’s wins and against Democrats’ obstruction.
“Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country,” Mr. Trump said. “Have a great RECESS and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Mr. Schumer said he was “serious” about trying to make a deal and was “painfully close on a fair deal” with Republicans, but Mr. Trump wouldn’t compromise.
Instead, he said, the president “attempted to steamroll the Senate to put in place his historically unqualified nominees.”
“Donald Trump tried to bully us, go around us, threaten us, call us names, but he got nothing, and he walked away with his tail between his legs,” Mr. Schumer said. “One of these days, Trump is going to have to learn that he needs to work with Democrats to help the American people.”
When the Senate returns on Sept. 2, the first vote it will have is a procedural one to bring up the annual defense authorization bill.
But the chamber will also need to deal with the remaining nominations backlog and fund the government before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Republicans are considering using the “nuclear option” to go around Democrats and change the Senate rules to speed up the process for confirming Trump nominees. Options include reducing the debate time for each nominee or allowing batches of nominations to be voted en bloc.
Mr. Schumer said it would be a “huge mistake” for Republicans to change the rules.
“We should be working together on legislation to get things done for the American people. That’s the way to go, not changing the rules. Because when they change the rules, they say only we’re going to decide what’s good for the American people. And every time they do that, the American people lose.”
The Senate has shown it can work in a bipartisan way, Mr. Schumer said, pointing to Friday’s passage of three of the 12 fiscal 2026 spending bills.
Those measures, which provide funding for the legislative branch and the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Departments, require further negotiation with the House, which has different versions of the spending bills.
It will not be easy for lawmakers to reach a bipartisan, bicameral deal on all 12 bills, or stopgap versions of them, needed to avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
Mr. Trump’s unwillingness to strike a deal with Democrats on nominations, given their funding demands, suggests he could play hardball on the spending bills as well.
Mr. Schumer said Republicans in Congress will have to decide whether to find common ground with Democrats or “continue to go at it alone, following Donald Trump down a dangerous path that hurts their party and hurts the American people.”
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