Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (New York) announced Thursday on the Senators' floor that he plans to vote to advance the six-month government funding bill that passed in the House despite strong opposition from many Democrats who founded the “Slash Fund” for President Trump and Elon Musk.
“I'll vote to keep the government open and not close it,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Schumer is only the second Senate Democrat who clearly stated his intention to vote to advance the bill that the GOP created. However, it is likely that he will vote to give other Democrats political cover and move forward with the 99-page package.
He said there were many undecided votes in his caucus and his colleagues were carefully reviewing the House bill.
“after that [Wednesday] There weren't enough votes to pass it on, I thought I'd let people know. But there are a lot of undecided votes and when members study and see it, each one makes their own decisions,” he later told reporters at a pen and pad briefing.
Schumer and Senate majority leader John Tune (Rs.D.) will need to enter into a time agreement to vote on the home fundraising package. Democrats are calling for amendments to the bill, including alternative proposals to fund the government for 30 days.
Congress must pass funding measures by the end of Friday to avoid closures.
Schumer agrees with a Democrat colleague who says the bill is a bad law, but fails to pass it could have far worse consequences: government shutdowns.
“The CR bill is a very bad thing, but the possibility of a shutdown will affect America much worse. Certainly, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It's not a clean CR, it's deeply partisan. It doesn't deal with that much of the needs of this country, but I believe Donald Trump is a much worse option to take away more electricity through government shutdowns,” he said on the floor.
Schumer argued that the closure would lead to the closure of local veteran issues, leaving veterans without any critical services, allowing Trump to fire more staff from the Social Security Agency.
The Democratic leader's announcement on the Senate floor shows a dramatic shift from the previous day. He declared that the House GOP bill for a clean, 30-day government funding stop-gap sponsored by Representatives (D-Wash.) does not have enough votes.
However, Schumer said Thursday evening that efforts to convene Republican votes on Murray's proposal would remain flat.
“Patty Murray worked very hard to get our appropriations committee members to get Republicans to go along with the 30-day bill and make sure they can do what they really want to do.
“That's a shame, it's very, very, very unfortunate,” he said.
Schumer told Senate Democrat colleagues at an early luncheon Thursday that he would move forward with the House Pass bill in support of the procedural move known as the cloud.
Senate Republicans will manage 53 seats and need eight Democratic votes to advance the ongoing resolution drafted by the GOP to the final vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY.) says he will vote against the measure because he hasn't done enough to reduce the deficit.
The law will increase defense spending by $6 billion and cut non-defense programs by $13 billion, so 60 votes are needed to advance to the final vote.
Murray, a top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, called the funding bill passed through his home a “trash can fire.”
Schumer's decision to support the House bill was filled with immediate criticism from progressive Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.).
Ocasio-Cortez told CNN in an interview Thursday afternoon that Schumer was a “risky mistake” voting to advance the House Republican fundraising resolution.
Asked about his criticism of his decision, Schumer said, “The bottom line means that these decisions must be made not only for your party, but for your country.
“I believe in it firmly and I believe I have always made the right decision,” he said. “I believe I come to that conclusion and I understand that I respected it. …People realize that it's a difficult choice, but I realize that I made a decision based on what I thought was a merit and they respect that.”
