Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blamed former President Trump and Republicans for a possible partial government shutdown after the House failed to pass a stopgap spending bill on Wednesday.
He filed for adjournment on Thursday as a procedural step to act as soon as possible once the House passes a continuing resolution (CR), a short-term measure to stabilize spending levels.
“By introducing it today, I'm giving the Senate maximum latitude to stop a shutdown,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. His early introduction of the bill could also lead to an early vote on future CR bills.
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Schumer slammed the inclusion of the SAVE Act in the CR. (Reuters/Cheney Orr)
“Democrats and the American people do not want a Trump shutdown,” he said, naming a possible partial government shutdown after Trump. “I would go so far as to say that at least the majority of Republicans in this Congress do not want a Trump shutdown. And the American people do not want our elected officials in Washington to engineer a government shutdown because of Donald Trump's agenda, a man who clearly does not know how the legislative process even works.”
The New York Democrat's decision to introduce the bill came after a Republican-backed bill introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, failed by a vote of 202-220, with two Republicans abstaining. Nine Republicans also voted against a six-month stopgap spending bill that included a measure requiring citizenship to vote. Three Democrats voted in favor.
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Johnson put the six-month CR on the ballot along with the SAVE Act. (Getty Images)
To avoid a partial government shutdown, lawmakers need to pass the CR by early October.
Republicans in both the House and Senate have called for the Protect American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to be included in a spending bill, but Speaker Schumer and Democrats have made it clear they will not support a bill that includes what they consider a “poison pill” measure.
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Senator Mike Lee has been a vocal supporter of including the SAVE Act. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Trump has criticized the spending fight, posting on Truth Social that “if Republicans will not approve the SAVE Act in its entirety, they should not agree to a continuing resolution in any form.”
Schumer blasted the former president in remarks on the floor, asking, “How can anyone expect Donald Trump to be president when he has so little understanding of the legislative process? He's threatening to shut down Congress?”
He also urged that his “Republican colleagues should not blindly follow Donald Trump.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R.D., responded to Trump's post on Wednesday, telling reporters: “The only thing I will say is that I don't think it's in anyone's political interest to shut down the government when the election is still a long way off.”
In his statement after the House's vote to reject the measure and during his floor speech, Schumer repeatedly referred to a potential partial government shutdown as a “Trump shutdown” and previewed Democrats' plans to shift the blame onto the presidential candidate and Republicans if a shutdown actually occurs.
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President Trump urged Republicans to accept nothing less than CR combined with the SAVE Act. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republicans have privately expressed concern that a potential partial government shutdown would make them look worse than Democrats.
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) recently told reporters that he doesn't think Republicans have much influence in the CR debate, and argued, “I don't think Chuck Schumer cares at all about a government shutdown as long as Republicans are held accountable.”
“And if the government shuts down, Republicans will be held responsible,” he predicted.
