Senate Democrats firmly rejected a House Republican proposal to keep the government funded, suggesting they may not cave to avoid a shutdown like they did earlier this year.
“The Republicans are in a much weaker position now than they were then,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the Democrats who voted to keep the government open in March, told reporters Tuesday.
He cited the GOP reconciliation package as a reason why, saying that Democrats “are unified” against its effects now — though he used the same word in March.
“We have seen the unlawfulness since then, we have seen the unlawfulness in new ways, including rescissions, impoundments, et cetera, so the situation is much different,” he added.
The House Republican continuing resolution, which was released Tuesday, would extend government funding at its current levels for seven weeks and offer more funding for security for members of Congress.
It would not, however, address some of the measures Democrats have said are vital to winning their support. The bill doesn’t include any concessions on health care costs, nor does it protect congressionally appropriated funding from being clawed back by the president.
Under intense pressure to push back on President Donald Trump through any means possible, Schumer and fellow Democrats are taking a firmer stance — although it remains to be seen which side will cave as the clock runs out to keep the government open.
“The bill fails to meet the needs of the American people, and does nothing to stop the looming health care crisis at a time when families are being squeezed by higher costs,” Schumer said.
Democrats are expected to release their own CR proposal on Tuesday evening, which will reportedly include some extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies and put up guardrails on the Trump administration’s rescission powers. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters the proposal is bicameral and would include “health care writ large.”
DeLauro’s Republican counterpart, Chair Tom Cole, told NOTUS on Tuesday evening that he had not heard of this proposal.
“They got what they asked for, which was a clean CR — which this one is — for the amount of time that they asked for, which is different than what the White House asked for,” Cole said of Democrats. “They’re mostly mad about the things that are not in there, which is never a way to judge a piece of legislation.”
Cole said that Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson may be open to negotiating with what the Democrats are proposing, but added: “They’re not going to attach it to a seven-week CR. This is about keeping the government open, and [Democrats] want to expand it to deal with other things that need to be dealt with honestly by other committees in other forms, not here.”
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters Tuesday afternoon: “We stand ready to make sure Congress, not Trump or Russ Vought, decide how our taxpayer dollars are spent, and we stand ready to negotiate legislation to address the health care crisis that Republicans have created.”
While the House can push through a continuing resolution on party lines, the Senate cannot approve legislation without at least seven Democratic votes — potentially more if there are Republican defectors.
The House and Senate appear to be aligned in their opposition. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Tuesday that Republicans are proposing a “dirty” CR, and that Democrats in both chambers are opposed to it. Jeffries said “yes” when a reporter asked whether he has confidence that Schumer won’t fold again.
Like Schumer, Jeffries pointed to Democrats’ opposition to the reconciliation bill as evidence for “continued” unity, and noted that they have a caucus meeting Thursday to discuss it further.
“Over the last several months, we worked very closely with our Senate colleagues to oppose the Republican one big, ugly bill,” Jeffries said. “We opposed that bill unanimously in the House and in the Senate because it represented a dramatic attack on the health care of the American people.”
Some of the 10 Democrats who voted for the March CR — including Sens. Gary Peters and Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats — were reluctant to comment on the new CR within hours of the text coming out, saying they had not yet seen it.
“I’m nowhere right now. I’m listening, and I want to see what the House is proposing and what can be discussed,” King told reporters Tuesday, adding that he thinks there are “issues to be addressed.”
Sen. John Fetterman, another of the Democratic “yea” votes from March, told reporters he would vote for the Republican proposal.
The White House, for its part, doesn’t seem eager to capitulate to Democrats on any of their demands. Trump suggested on Friday in an interview with “Fox and Friends” that Republicans shouldn’t negotiate with Democrats any further.
“Don’t even bother dealing with them,” Trump said of Democrats.
That attitude coming from on high is making it near impossible, Democrats say, for them to trust Republicans to loop them in.
“Donald Trump made it explicit that he doesn’t want to work with Democrats,” Sen. Brian Schatz told reporters Tuesday afternoon, expressing his own opposition to the CR. “And so I wish him the best.”