The Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, dampened an effort led by Democratic senators to reject a temporary funding measure when he declared his backing for the legislation approved by Republicans, thus preventing a governmental closure.
Schumer outlined his reasoning to journalists on Thursday night, stating that he thought both President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, would exploit a shutdown as an opportunity to cut governmental expenditures more drastically.
“I informed my caucus about this: there is no escape route; the complete exit from ashutdown,” he stated.
The Independent
During a press conference, “The end of theshutdown entirely depends on theRepublican-controlledHouse andSenate. This is due to their utter subservience toTrump, DOGE, among others. They have the power to prolong this situationfor months andmonths onend.”
Schumer’s action halted the progress aimed at defeating the bill.
The House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, approved on Tuesday with votes largely following party lines.
That indicated a shift from Wednesday when the Democrats
appeared ready to agree and support the bill to prevent a government closure
.
earlier today, Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona confessed that he was not fond of the legislation approved by the Republicans.
“It was just handed to us, just by House Republicans, no input from Democrats,” he told
The Independent,
but mentioned that he hadn’t reached a conclusion on the matter yet.
By mid-afternoon, Kelly had positioned herself against it.
“Republicans need to collaborate with us on a genuine continuing resolution, such bipartisan agreements are typically executed,” Kelly stated.
The Independent
.
Kelly’s fellow Arizonan, freshman Senator Ruben Gallego, stated he would have a straightforward message for voters.
” Donald Trump along with the Republicans caused the government to shut down,” he said.
The Independent
.
Virginia Senator Mark Warner, representing a state home to numerous federal employees affected by the reductions implemented under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, stated that voters grasped the necessity of opposing the legislation.
“These are federal employees with a significant interest; they want me to be a ‘no,'” he said.
The Independent
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Senator Michael Bennet from Colorado avoided answering questions, yet he later stated his opposition to the continuing resolution during the same day.
Traditionally, the political party that objects to funding bills is held responsible for causing the government shutdown.
However, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island stated that the responsibility would clearly be placed on the Republicans and Trump.
“I think the message is that the republicans gave us two extremely unpopular choices, spurned a bipartisan return to regular order all to give more power to President Trump and continue the madness that they could have ended,” he told
The Independent
.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed that if a shutdown happened, 32 percent of voters said they would blame congressional Democrats, but 31 percent said they would blame congressional Republicans, and 22 percent said they would blame Trump the most.
Until Schumer’s announcement, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania had been the main supporter of the continuing resolution.
When asked if he had read the text of the 99-page continuing resolution, Fetterman dodged.
“I will never support shutting down the government,” he stated.
The Independent
“There’s nothing noted about that in the news. They came up with something called Google or the internet, where you can verify that information.”
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