Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) suggested that he will not consider a short-term spending bill that includes an election integrity bill.
If Congress fails to reach an agreement on funding by September 30, the government will face a shutdown.
Schumer wrote to his congressional colleagues, “As everyone knows, government funding will expire on September 30th without an extension. We all know what is at stake: crucial funding for health care, infrastructure, education, food safety, veterans, border security, U.S. competitiveness and more.”
“Democrats support a [continuing resolution]. As I have said before, the only way to get things done is in a bipartisan way,” he wrote. “Despite Republican bluster, that is how we’ve handled every funding bill in the past, and this time should be no exception. We will not let poison pills or Republican extremism put funding for critical programs at risk.”
“Finding compromise is never easy, but we know it is the only path to achieving results for the American people,” Schumer added. “Our caucus unity has been the key to our success, so I want to thank each of you for all your work to find compromise whenever possible.”
Upon Republicans announcing their plan to include the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in a continuing resolution, Schumer and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a joint statement that “avoiding a government shutdown requires bipartisanship, not a bill drawn up by one party.”
“Speaker Johnson is making the same mistake as former Speaker McCarthy did a year ago, by wasting precious time catering to the hard MAGA right,” they said. “This tactic didn’t work last September and it will not work this year either. The House Republican funding proposal is an ominous case of déjà vu.”
“If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also condemned the Republicans’ proposal, calling it “unserious and unacceptable.”
“From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will find bipartisan common ground on any issue with our Republican colleagues whenever possible, while pushing back against MAGA extremism whenever necessary,” he wrote. “On issue after issue, we have repeatedly been compelled to govern as if we are in the majority while currently serving in the minority. In that regard, House Democrats have consistently put people over politics.”
“Despite the existence of a previously agreed upon spending framework, extreme MAGA Republicans have decided to abandon their commitment to the American people in order to enact Trump’s Project 2025 agenda,” Jeffries added. “On behalf of everyday Americans, House Democrats will not accept harmful cuts to our military readiness, children and veterans or right-wing policy changes that are inconsistent with the Bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act.”
“The partisan and extreme continuing resolution put forth by House Republicans is unserious and unacceptable,” he asserted. “In order to avert a GOP-driven government shutdown that will hurt everyday Americans, Congress must pass a short-term continuing resolution that will permit us to complete the appropriations process during this calendar year and is free of partisan policy changes inspired by Trump’s Project 2025. There is no other viable path forward that protects the health, safety and economic well-being of hardworking American taxpayers.”
