Key House Democrats have stepped up pressure on Senate Democrats to oppose the GOP spending bill, warning that the proposal will cut critical public services to vulnerable people around the country.
Gathering at the annual Strategic Retreat in Leesburg, Virginia, leaders begged their Senate counterparts and pleaded to use the power of the filibuster to sink the bill when they voted later this week.
“Hospital Democrats are very clear, and I am asking Senate Democrats to vote no on this ongoing resolution.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) said lobbying is not just happening in the media. House Democrats are also meeting in person with Senate Democrats ahead of the Senate vote, he said.
“The ongoing conversations from leadership with Senate Democrats through the members of the Senate, where we regularly work with,” Jeffries said. “The House's democratic position is clear as evidenced by the strong opposition vote we made yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives against Trump Musk Johnson's reckless Republican spending bill.”
The pressure campaign is because Senate Democrats appear to be ready to provide enough votes to shepherd Republican partisan bills through the office only if President Trump and Elon Musk could misuse the closure to advance their efforts to guise the federal government.
House Democrats effectively united against the Republican spending bill when they were attacked on the floor Tuesday evening. There, Mike Johnson (R-La.) has made the bill muscular through the House with a vote of 217-213, with great support from Trump.
One democratic exile was MP Jared Golden (D-Maine), who said the government shutdown was worse than the GOP's proposal.
Rep. Katherine Clark (Massachusetts), a Democrat, played a leading role in persuading class and filed Democrats to oppose the measure. She said the unity manifested by House Democrats should encourage senators to take the same position.
“We stand behind working families, which is why the message to the Senate is like that. “And I think our vote gives the Senate the strength and message that they need to stand up too.”
Support from Senate Democrats will not only send the bill to Trump's desk, but will undermine Democrats' message that the proposal is toxic to working-class families.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chairman of the House Democrats' Caucus, said Democrats should not vote for it.
“I don't know why someone supports that bill,” he said.
Jeffries stressed that opposition to the GOP bill would not guarantee a closure as Democrats in both rooms are energizing the third option. This 30-day CR is designed to allow more time than time to seal transactions in the 2025 spending package.
“There are alternatives that Senators, Democrats and Republicans should consider,” Jeffries said. “It's a four-week clean, continuing resolution that will give both the House and Senate, both Democrats and Republicans.
