Both sides have been bypassing those rules for years to suit their whims:

https://www.npr.org/2025/09/11/nx-s1-5538448/senate-republic...

Nope. They can vote with a simple majority to change that rule too (senate process rules only require majority). They could make an exception in this particular case or change the rule entirely.

And we'll not even get into that they've built up a bit of a history ignoring all sorts of government rules. They don't care about rules.

No, Republicans want a shutdown and want to blame democrats for it. I doubt that is the full extent of their plan, so we'll see soon enough, and there has to be some reason for the whole circus, so I really doubt republican voters are going to like what's coming. Clearly, the play is to set the stage for a big unpopular decision, one big enough their political future depends on blaming it on democrats.

Trump has already hinted at things: mass-layoffs in government, and of course the elephant in the room: defunding Obamacare and just letting it fail. That last one would require at minimum 3 months of government shutdown ... but that wouldn't be the first time Trump does that.