If you missed the drama on Friday, the federal government avoided a shutdown after passing a much-argued-over, President Donald Trump-endorsed continuing resolution. How we got there is the more interesting story, though.
Because Republicans only have 53 votes in the Senate, they needed several Democrats to cross the aisle, which was a touch-and-go proposition for a while. Just days before the cloture vote (which takes the passage threshold from 60 votes to a simple majority for a Senate bill), even Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was signaling he wanted to shut the government down. Yet, in the end, he and a handful of others crossed over, citing that a shutdown would grant the White House even more power over the bureaucracies.
SEE: Dems Defeated, Shutdown Averted
Before that happened, though, many Democrats were demanding the filibuster be used to…
