With only a handful of legislative days left for Congress to avoid a shutdown later this month, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that Senate Democrats will reject Republicans’ proposal for a “clean” short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government after September 30. Schumer urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to negotiate with Democrats, but did not specify any concrete demands, like extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that some Democrats have been advocating for.
House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries (D-NY) also said that a clean CR is “not the type of policy that actually meets the needs of the American people.” The statements from Schumer and Jeffries come as Democratic leadership is under pressure from progressives like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), as well as center-left New York Times columnist Ezra Klien, who say they want Democrats to play hardball on government funding and force President Trump to back away from his “authoritarian consolidation” of power.
As funding discussions on the Hill continued this week, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD) signaled that he could tolerate a shorter term funding bill extending government funding into November or December that is being pushed by House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) if Cole has the votes. This comes as the White House asked Congress to extend current government funding until January 31st, a duration that many members of Congress in both parties oppose.