In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a bipartisan bill was the only way to keep the government funded. When asked if he would support a bipartisan bill to require proof of citizenship to vote, he said the Republican plan includes a variety of other poison pills.
Host Keyna Whitworth asked, “Let me turn to Chairman Johnson. He's expected to propose a stopgap funding measure in the House to fund the government until the spring, but it comes with new rules that would require proof of citizenship to vote. And I know a few House Democrats have said they support this. If this voter ID bill is attached to a government funding bill, will you put it to a vote or do you expect a government shutdown?”
“Chairman Johnson should learn from the past. We need to cut government funding,” Schumer said.[ed] Bipartisan. You can’t have a group of Republicans, especially a group led by hard-line Republicans on the right who don’t represent the entire Republican Party, put together any kind of poison pill bill and say this has to pass. That bill may not even pass the House. I think some Republicans will vote against it. It may not even pass the Senate or get signed by the President. Chairman Johnson, think about what’s happening. You can’t pass a bill unless you can come to a bipartisan agreement. It’s been that way every time before. You tried to appease the right, you failed, and you had to come to us and negotiate. We are ready to negotiate a bipartisan agreement.”
“But some Democrats support this bill, so why isn't it passing the Senate?” Whitworth asked.
Schumer responded, “There's so much in their bill. There's a poison pill on abortion. There's a poison pill on so many issues. They're cutting spending on programs that the vast majority of Americans support. This bill won't pass. And this idea of voting is now law. If you're not a citizen, you can't vote. You can't do that at the federal level.”
Whitworth continued: “So why don't you support a voter ID system?”
Schumer responded, “Now, as I said, this bill is full of all kinds of poison pills that Democrats wouldn't propose, and the reason is that Speaker Johnson was afraid of the right first, afraid of the majority. So the Speaker says, 'What can we put in a bill that you guys will like?' And that bill will never pass, and they'll have to come negotiate with us. And that's what's going to happen.”
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