House Democrats are furious with fellow Senate Democrats for supporting the Republican spending bill, with minority leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and other aisles hopping senators said President Trump was set to sacrifice his components to hamper the government.
“There's a deep sense of anger and betrayal,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. “And this isn't just progressive Democrats, it's all about the whole, the whole party.”
House Democrats effectively united on Tuesday by rejecting a partisan GOP spending package. A powerful show of opposition they hoped to urge Senate Democrats to take away the same resistance. House Democrat leaders have also taken the rare step of publicly urging Senate leaders to reject the bill. It was created by House Republicans without democratic opinions.
Gathering at the annual strategic retreat in northern Virginia, all striped House Democrats spent part of Thursday shooting at Senate colleagues with calls and texts urging them to kill Republican bills.
Schumer rejected these begs and announced Thursday evening that he would not support the Democrats' most powerful tool at their disposal, the Filibuster, but joins Republicans and instead helps them advance the proposal.
“The Republican bill is a terrible option,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It's deeply partisan, it doesn't address so many of the needs of the country. But I believe that allowing Donald Trump to take away more power through government shutdowns is a much worse option.”
That argument was done nothing to satisfy House Democrats.
“We can't stress enough how wrong it is,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“That's a terrible decision,” said Rep. Joe Morell, DN.Y. “People are angry. We were almost at the people at once. [on the House vote] …And a significant proportion of their caucus vote to allow Republicans to do whatever they want. ”
The GOP Expense Bill extends government funding primarily until September to the current 2024 level. But that includes around $13 billion in cuts in non-defense programs and about $6 billion in additional spending on the military.
Democrats are opposed to cutting spending and warn that it will erode important public services. But they are sounding even bigger alarms about the absence of a particular language, designed to allow the Trump administration to spend money as Congress intended – Language House Republicans refused. Democrats say the omission will allow Elon Musk, billionaire Trump Alley, the so-called Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to continue cutting federal agencies and programs that are not checked by Congress.
“Now they're openly saying that they're taking this money in this bill and then it's just right for what they want,” said Pramilla Jayapal (D-Wash.).
“People need to know what Democrats are defending and see us fighting for them,” she added. “And I think that's clearly why people are frustrated if we're the same and just allows Republicans to do what they're doing.”
Another reason for that frustration is: A long list of vulnerable House Democrats facing tough reelections, including dozens of people representing the districts that Trump carried last November, have stuck to Democratic leaders in opposition to partisan measures. If Senate Democrats helped pass the GOP bill, some lawmakers said the dangerous vote was in vain.
“We have members of Congress who have walked the planks to protect Americans and won Trump-owned districts in some of the hardest territories in the United States to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“I've only seen Senate Democrats even consider signing up for Elon Musk. I think it's a big slap in the face.”
Rep. Greg Kassar (D-Texas), head of Congress' Progressive Caucus, said it was specifically designed to keep Trump and Musk looting taxpayers.
“First and foremost, Senate Republicans should screw their members in before coming back,” Casar said. “And second, Senate Democrats should do the same thing that House Democrats did, fighting for our members and blocking this bill.
“The Democrats were elected to fight for workers, not to set up a false fight.”
It is not yet clear how many vulnerable Democrats in the Senate will follow Schumer's lead. Several people said they were against the bill earlier that day, but Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) both announced that Schumer would vote “no” on behalf of Swing States.
Still, Schumer, as a leader of the majority, can shake up his caucus and do the same to others by voting “yes.”
Ocasio-Cortez has not given up on the fight for one yet. The liberal New Yorker said he hopes the combination of angry constituents and pressure from House Democrats will rethink Schumer towards the late Thursday night.
“People are texting, phone calls, career pigeons,” she said. “And I hope a lot of House Democrats are using their relationship and we do the right thing here.
“The idea that there's nothing we can do — why? Because people don't want to stay on Saturdays?” she added. “We have a much greater responsibility to the American people than that.”
