As the deadline for a government shutdown looms, Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer found themselves in a rare exchange on the Senate floor, highlighting the contentious atmosphere surrounding the urgent need for a funding agreement.
Majority Leader Thune emphasized the critical choice facing Democrats: “They can shut down the government and subject the American people to all the problems that come with a shutdown, many of which, as I’ve said, they’ve enumerated in the countless quotes they’ve made in the past. Or they can join Republicans to pass a clean, nonpartisan short-term funding bill and keep the government’s lights on. For the sake of the American people, Mr. President, I really hope they choose the latter.”
In response, Schumer took issue with Thune’s characterization of the funding negotiations. He borrowed a chart from Thune that illustrated Democrats’ support for numerous Biden-era continuing resolutions, but insisted that the context of those votes was crucial. “Yes, that’s true. Guess why? In each case, Democrats negotiated with Republicans and said, let’s have a bipartisan bill. The leader says it’s a clean bill. It’s a partisan bill. Not once were Democrats asked for what input should be in the bill. We were not told about it. We were not asked about it,” Schumer stated emphatically. “You cannot pass legislation in the Senate, when it comes to appropriations, unless it is bipartisan.”
Standing across from Schumer, Thune reiterated his position, asserting that Democrats had the opportunity to engage in negotiations and that the appropriations process should be collaborative. Schumer, however, countered that the current appropriations process is failing to meet the needs of the American public, stating, “To say the appropriations process is working is wrong. It’s not working.”
Thune defended the timeline agreed upon by the House and Senate appropriators, noting that the proposed funding extension date of November 21 was a consensus decision. He stressed, “The Democrat leader and his colleagues have the same leverage on November the 21st. This is a short-term CR. This is what we do all the time around here.”
As the debate intensified, Thune waved a copy of the bill, underscoring his belief that there is still time to address more significant issues, such as health care tax credits. “We have until the end of the year to fix the ACA credit issue, and we’re happy, as I said yesterday and I’ve said on multiple occasions, to sit down with you to do that,” Thune concluded before leaving the floor.
The exchanges reflect a growing urgency as Congress races against the clock to avert a government shutdown, with both sides of the aisle grappling over the necessity of bipartisan cooperation amid partisan divides. The stakes are high, with millions of Americans relying on government services and programs that could be disrupted should the government fail to secure funding.
