Talks to avoid government shutdown underway
The Senate is set to vote on a GOP funding bill on Friday which is already through the house, Republicans need a handful of Democrats to reach 60 votes and close debate.
(CNN) – Republicans control the House, Senate and White House and Democrats don’t usually have leverage to pushing back on, the Trump Administration. But, right now, they do.
“I will vote to keep the government open” said, Sen. Chuck Schumer/(D) Minority Leader. Those words signal the federal government might not shut down Friday night.
The Senate is set to vote on a GOP funding bill on Friday which is already through the house, Republicans need a handful of Democrats to reach 60 votes and close debate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll be one of them, “I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer/(D) Minority Leader.
But it’s still not clear if the bill will pass. Schumer’s statement follows his earlier claim that democrats had the votes to block the measure.
“We should be hell no, and we should use our leverage in the Senate to negotiate a much better deal,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley/(D) Oregon.
Democrats want to push back on President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, they want to rein efforts to dismantle federal agencies, fire government workers, and cut funding for some programs; that’s why House Democrats opposed the bill.
“What voting for the C-R does is that it codifies the chaos and the reckless cuts that Elon Musk has been pursuing” said, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez/(D) New York.
On the other hand, a shutdown could hurt the economy already reeling from new tariffs.
Some Democrats also worry Trump could use a shutdown to push even more cuts.
“We are in a perverse bizarro land where we’re having to decide between letting Donald Trump wreck the government this way or wreck the government that way” said, Sen. Cory Booker/(D) New Jersey.
