Minority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats would not provide the votes they needed to pass the Stop Gap funding bill, dramatically increasing the risk of government shutdowns over the weekend.
Announced the decision in a speech on the Senator’s floor, Schumer urged Republicans to consider shorter funding extensions than allow Congressional negotiators to consider more time to consider the bipartisan path.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path and drafted a continuous resolution (CR) without any opinions from Congressional Democrats,” Schumer said of the Republican drafted bill that passed the House on Tuesday.
“Our caucus is unified with a clean April 11 CR that gives Congress time to negotiate bipartisan laws that can keep the government open and pass,” he continued, referring to a short-term bill that temporarily expands federal funds. “We need to vote for it.”
To avoid the closure, Congress must act to extend federal funds by midnight Friday. Changes – or new invoices must pass through the home before the deadline. After the bill was passed Tuesday, the House Speaker postponed the room, intentionally sending members home, effectively boldly rejecting the bill.
Senate Democrats still managed to reverse course as the reality of government shutdowns. Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk are working to shut down parts of the government forever, but it will be a more clear focus. Several Senate Democrats have expressed openness to vote for the measure, citing their dislike of government shutdowns. “I disagree with many points in the CR, but I will never vote to shut down our government,” Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman tweeted Tuesday.
But Democrats are also putting pressure from the base to take a stronger position against Trump and Republicans.
Senate Republicans are often shy about the 60-vote threshold required to advance the law, holding a narrow majority of 53 seats. Senator Rand Paul, a stubborn fiscal hawk, shows his opposition to the House bill. That means eight Democrats will need to support the bill to overcome the procedural hurdles to reach the final vote in the chamber.
Democrats raised concerns about the discretion that the measures will give to the Trump administration over their spending decisions in pursuit of significant cuts in the federal workforce.
On Wednesday, Caucus leaders pleaded their Senate counterparts to oppose the government’s fundraising bill from the annual House Democrats’ Caucus Retreat in Leesburg, Virginia.
“I don’t know why someone is supporting that bill,” California Rep. Pete Aguilar, House Democrat Caucus Speaker, told reporters at a press conference Wednesday.
The 99-page House Pass Measures will increase the military budget of $6 billion while cutting $13 billion from non-defensive spending. Democrats are the equivalent of assault on key programs for vulnerable Americans.
Republican “refund bills will wreak havoc for working families,” House Democrat whip Katherine Clark told reporters Wednesday.
“Even if it’s born out of atrocities, coronavirus and corruption, GOP is dependent on making sure that families at home are unsafe,” she added.
The House voted 217-213 to approve a bill that would maintain federal agencies until September 30th. All Democrats voted, except Jared Golden, a conservative from Maine.
Rep. Thomas Massey of Kentucky is a dedicated deficit hawk that often overthrows his party on financial issues, and voted against Trump’s demands that all House Republicans support the bill. After the vote, Trump threatened to depose Massie as his “ancestor” and kick seven term lawmakers out of office.
In a joint statement, House Democrat leaders supported Schumer’s call to extend their short-term funding, urging Republicans to return to Washington.
