Senate Faces Shutdown Deadline as Leaders Clash Over Funding Bill
WASHINGTON – The Senate is poised to vote on a short-term funding bill proposed by Republicans, as a government shutdown looms with the deadline approaching at midnight.A rare and direct exchange on the Senate floor Tuesday between Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer highlighted the deep divisions preventing a resolution.
Thune urged Democrats to support the bill, stating, “Democrats have a choice to make. They can shut down the government and subject the American people to all the problems that come with a shutdown… Or they can join Republicans to pass a clean, nonpartisan short-term funding bill and keep the government’s lights on. For the sake of the American people, Mr. President, I really hope they choose the latter.”
Schumer countered that the republican proposal lacked bipartisan input. he acknowledged a chart presented by Thune showing unanimous Democratic support for previous continuing resolutions under the Biden administration, but argued the circumstances were different. “Yes, that’s true. Guess why? In each case, Democrats negotiated with Republicans and said, let’s have a bipartisan bill. The leader says it’s a clean bill. It’s a partisan bill. Not once were Democrats asked for what input should be in the bill. We were not told about it. We were not asked about it,” Schumer said. ”You cannot pass legislation in the Senate, when it comes to appropriations, unless it is bipartisan.”
Schumer reiterated Democratic priorities, including extending health care tax credits and limiting the President’s ability to rescind funding. He asserted, “To say the appropriations process is working is wrong. it’s not working.”
Thune defended the process, explaining the House and Senate Appropriations Committees had agreed on a timeline extending funding to November 21. “The Democrat leader and his colleagues have the same leverage on November the 21st.this is a short-term CR. This is what we do all the time around here,” he said, adding, “We have until the end of the year to fix the ACA credit issue, and we’re happy… to sit down with you to do that.”
