How Schumer is preparing for the fall funding showdown
Senate Democrats will face their first government funding decision Tuesday, with Republicans teeing up the first procedural vote on a package of government funding bills that have passed the Senate Appropriations Committee largely on a bipartisan basis.
Democrats appear to be leaning toward at least helping start debate on the package. But Schumer told his No. 2, Dick Durbin, that he wants to have a full caucus discussion Tuesday about how to handle that first tranche of funding measures before announcing a strategy, the Illinois Democrat said in an interview Monday.
Publicly, Schumer is trying to keep the pressure on Republicans, accusing Senate Majority Leader John Thune of 'talking a bit out of both sides of his mouth' on government funding by talking up the importance of the normal appropriations process while also greenlighting efforts by the administration to clawback funding previously blessed by Congress.
'If Leader Thune wants to talk about bipartisanship, he should focus on keeping his side of the street clean first,' Schumer said.
He warned in a letter to his caucus earlier this month that Republicans shouldn't bank on having help from Democrats on government funding if they pursue go-it-alone funding strategies like the rescissions package. But Schumer has also declined multiple times to discuss what the outcome would be for such actions, telling reporters late last week to ask Republicans if they were willing to stand up to White House budget director Russ Vought.
Across the Capitol, Jeffries is drawing his own line on government funding, saying Monday at a press conference, 'it's my expectation that if Republicans try to jam a highly partisan spending bill down the throats of the American people here in the house, we will reject it.'
But while the two New Yorkers face a similar dilemma, Schumer also faces a tougher task: House Republicans don't need Democratic votes to pass legislation if they can achieve near-unity — a rare occurrence for the fractious conference but, as they have proven, not impossible. Schumer's caucus, in contrast, plays a more decisive role given the need for 60 votes for the Senate to advance a funding bill to avoid a shutdown.
'Here's the reality: we have to have a budget. We've got 47 votes, they've got 53,' said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), in an interview. 'How we deal with that, when we've got 47-53, remains to be seen.'
Katherine Tully-McManus, Jennifer Scholtes and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
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