Latest news with #appropriationsprocess
Fox News
5 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Schumer, Democrats try to save face, blame GOP for possible government shutdown
Congressional Democrats are trying to get on the same page and display a unified front after threatening to derail the government funding process. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., met behind closed doors Tuesday night, along with the top Democrats in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to plot a course forward in the forthcoming government funding fight. The meeting came after Democrats in the upper chamber overwhelmingly supported the first government funding bill to hit the Senate floor, one that would fund military construction and Veterans Affairs. Ahead of the vote, Senate Democrats had signaled they may vote against the bill and further obstruct the appropriations process because of highly partisan legislation rammed through the upper chamber by Senate Republicans. "We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process," Schumer said. "That's how it's always been done, successfully, and we believe that, however, the Republicans are making it extremely difficult to do that." The meeting just off the Senate floor was meant to get congressional Democrats on board with a messaging plan over the next weeks and months ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government. It was also likely designed to prevent a repeat of the Democratic debacle in March, when Schumer broke with Jeffries and threatened to shutter the government before ultimately caving and providing Republicans the votes necessary to advance yet another government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution. Republicans are quick to point out that when Schumer led the upper chamber, none of the House GOP's spending bills made it to the floor — in Congress, the spending process begins in the lower chamber. Since taking over earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has committed to returning to regular order, or passing each of the dozen spending bills to fund the government, and trying to get the appropriations process back to normal. However, it's a feat that hasn't been successfully done in Washington since the late 1990s. "Frankly, I think a lot of us around here think [this] is long overdue," Thune said. However, Democrats contend that their trust in Republicans is wearing thin after two major partisan bills, one being President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," and the other the president's $9 billion clawback package, were pushed through the chamber without any Democratic input. Thune argued that Senate Democrats were using the rescissions package to shut down the appropriations process and effectively shut down the government. In the Senate, most bills that come to the floor require at least 60 votes to smash through the filibuster, meaning that most legislation requires bipartisan support to some extent. Earlier this year, the House GOP produced a partisan government funding extension that was a tough pill for Senate Democrats to swallow, but they still ultimately opted to vote for it. This time around, they're demanding more involvement in the process. Jeffries said that congressional Democrats would play ball if the process was "bipartisan and bicameral in nature" and put the onus of a partial government shutdown at the feet of congressional Republicans. "House Republicans are, in fact, marching us toward a possible government shutdown that will hurt the American people," he said. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., threw the responsibility on Democrats over whether the government would shutter or stay open come the end of September. "They're gaming out how they can shut the government down," Johnson told Bloomberg Government.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Senate weathers Dem opposition, advances first government funding bill
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Senate Republicans and Democrats advanced the first set of spending bills through the upper chamber, despite signals from Democrats that they may block the government funding process. In the days and weeks leading up to the vote, Senate Democrats warned that Republicans' passage of highly partisan bills, like President Donald Trump's $9 billion clawback package, had eaten away at the trust that girds the appropriations process. DEMS SEEK RETALIATION OVER GOP CUTS AS THUNE CALLS FOR 'COOPERATION' ON FUNDING VOTE Still, after meeting behind closed-doors Tuesday afternoon, Democrats ultimately provided enough votes to advance the bill, which would fund military construction and the VA. The vote allows for lawmakers to make amendments and debate the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the meeting that Democrats were still gunning for a bipartisan spending deal, effectively opening the door for his conference to back the spending bill package for now. "We're working together to get one," Schumer said. "But the bottom line is, Republicans are making it much harder. Rescissions, impoundment, pocket rescissions directly undoes this." The bill advanced on a 90 to 8 vote, with Schumer and the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican to open debate on the bill. Democrats were largely frustrated with the passage of Trump's rescissions package last week, which slashed funding from foreign aid and public broadcasting, arguing that doing so dissolved trust between the parties when it came to crafting spending bills. CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FACE BRUISING BATTLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN They argued that reaching an agreement on a funding bill, only to see their priorities later stripped out through rescissions, shattered confidence in their Republican colleagues to stick to their word. "There's no doubt," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a high-ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital. "I mean, someone does one thing one day and undoes it the next day, that obviously creates issues with trust." Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., opted to call his counterparts' bluff, and put the bill on the floor. Failure to advance the the legislation could have signaled a rocky road ahead for funding the government and beating the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown. "Democrats have indicated that they're so upset over a rescissions bill last week, which, by the way, cut one tenth of 1% of all federal spending, that somehow they could use that to shut down the appropriations process and therefore shut down the government," Thune said. "We think that would be a big mistake, and hopefully they will think better of it and work with us, and we're trying to give them what they've been asking for, [which] is a bipartisan appropriations process," he continued. Prior to the vote, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged passage of the bill through the procedural hurdle, and noted that when she and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel, took the helm of the committee, they "committed to working together" on spending bills. She noted that when Democrats controlled the chamber, lawmakers didn't get the same opportunity to consider spending bills, but acknowledged that it was still a "challenging legislative environment." "This is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, and I want to express my gratitude to Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Thune, for giving us the opportunity to bring the first of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills to the Senate floor," she said. 'ALL THE OPTIONS': GOP EYES CUTTING AUGUST RECESS TO MOVE DOZENS OF TRUMP NOMINEES STALLED BY DEMS But, passage of the first bill, and the ensuing amendment process leading to a final vote, does not guarantee that the appropriations process will go smoothly before the deadline hits in the next couple of months. Congress has not passed spending bills through a process called regular order since the late 1990s and has typically relied on short government funding extensions, known as continuing resolutions, and year-end, colossal spending packages, known as omnibuses, to keep the lights on in Washington. Disagreements over funding levels between the Senate and House, coupled with lingering questions about whether Schumer will continue to play ball with Republicans, could tee up another showdown around the September deadline. Schumer said that he would have a confab with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and the top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations committees, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Murray, "to discuss the appropriations process in both the House and the Senate in the weeks ahead." "With so much hard work ahead, the government funding deadline only less than 25 legislative days away, Republicans should be focused on working with us to deliver for American families," he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sen. John Fetterman, who earlier this year voted with Republicans and a handful of his Democratic colleagues to thwart a partial government shutdown, had a stern message for Senate Democrats that may want to obstruct the government funding process. "I will never, ever vote to shut our government down," the Pennsylvania Democrat told Fox News Digital. "That's a core responsibility. And now we may not like a lot of these changes to things, and I don't, but I'm saying that's the way that democracy works." "And now shutting the government down, how could you do that and plunge our country into chaos," he continued.
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Senators push back against Vought's call for more partisan spending process
Senators are not thrilled with a top White House official's comments that the government funding process should become more partisan, and fear that doing so could erode Congress' power of the purse. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters during a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast Thursday morning that he believed "the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan." His sentiment came on the heels of Senate Republicans advancing President Donald Trump's $9 billion clawback package, which would cancel congressionally approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, just a few hours before. Unlike the hyper-partisan bills that have dominated the Senate's recent agenda, including the rescissions package and the president's "big, beautiful bill," the appropriations process is typically a bipartisan affair in the upper chamber. That is because, normally, most bills brought to the floor have to pass the Senate's 60-vote threshold, and with the GOP's narrow majority, Senate Democrats will need to pass any spending bills or government funding extensions to ward off a partial government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who alluded to issues down the line with the appropriations process if Republicans advanced Trump's resicssions package, took a harsh stance against Vought. "Donald Trump should fire Russell Vought immediately, before he destroys our democracy and runs the country into the ground," Schumer said. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee also did not take kindly to Vought's comments. "I think he disrespects it," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. "I think he thinks that we are irrelevant, and I wish I had actually heard the speech, because, you know, again, everything in context." "But you have to admit that when you look at the quotes that are highlighted in the story this morning, it is pretty dismissive of the appropriations process, pretty dismissive," she continued. Vought has no intention of slowing the rescissions train coming from the White House, and said that there would be more rescissions packages on the way. He noted another would "come soon," as lawmakers in the House close in on a vote to send the first clawback package to the president's desk. "There is no voter in the country that went to the polls and said, 'I'm voting for a bipartisan appropriations process,'" Vought said. "That may be the view of something that appropriators want to maintain." Both Murkowski and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the rescissions package, and warned of the cuts to public broadcasting, lack of transparency from the OMB and the possible effect it could have on legislating in the upper chamber. "I disagree with both those statements," Collins said of Vought's push for a more partisan appropriations process. "Just as with the budget that the President submitted, we had to repeatedly ask him and the agencies to provide us with the detailed account information, which amounts to 1000s of pages that our appropriators and their staff meticulously review." Fox News Digital reached out to the OMB for comment. Vought's comments came at roughly the same time as appropriators were holding a mark-up hearing of the military construction and veterans' affairs and Commerce, Justice and Science spending bills. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said during the hearing that Senate Republicans coalescing behind the rescissions package would only make hammering out spending bills more difficult, and argued that "trust" was at the core of the process. "That's part of why bipartisan bills are so important," she said. "But everyone has to understand getting to the finish line always depends on our ability to work together in a bipartisan way, and it also depends on trust." Other Republicans on the panel emphasized a similar point, that, without some kind of cooperation, advancing spending bills would become even more challenging. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said that finding "critical mass" to move spending bills was important, and warned that people have to "quit saying it's gotta just be my way or the highway," following threats Schumer's threats last week that the appropriations process could suffer should the rescissions package pass. "People better start recognizing that we're all gonna have to work together and hopefully get these [appropriations] bills to the floor and see what we can move," he said. "But if somebody just sits up and says, 'Oh, because there's a rescission bill, then I'm not going to work on Appropriations,' you can always find an excuse not to do something. Let's figure out how we can work forward."
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
'Irrelevant': Senators push back against Vought's call for more partisan spending process
Senators are not thrilled with a top White House official's comments that the government funding process should become more partisan, and fear that doing so could erode Congress' power of the purse. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters during a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast Thursday morning that he believed "the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan." His sentiment came on the heels of Senate Republicans advancing President Donald Trump's $9 billion clawback package, which would cancel congressionally approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, just a few hours before. Unlike the hyper-partisan bills that have dominated the Senate's recent agenda, including the rescissions package and the president's "big, beautiful bill," the appropriations process is typically a bipartisan affair in the upper chamber. That is because, normally, most bills brought to the floor have to pass the Senate's 60-vote threshold, and with the GOP's narrow majority, Senate Democrats will need to pass any spending bills or government funding extensions to ward off a partial government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who alluded to issues down the line with the appropriations process if Republicans advanced Trump's resicssions package, took a harsh stance against Vought. "Donald Trump should fire Russell Vought immediately, before he destroys our democracy and runs the country into the ground," Schumer said. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee also did not take kindly to Vought's comments. "I think he disrespects it," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. "I think he thinks that we are irrelevant, and I wish I had actually heard the speech, because, you know, again, everything in context." "But you have to admit that when you look at the quotes that are highlighted in the story this morning, it is pretty dismissive of the appropriations process, pretty dismissive," she continued. Vought has no intention of slowing the rescissions train coming from the White House, and said that there would be more rescissions packages on the way. He noted another would "come soon," as lawmakers in the House close in on a vote to send the first clawback package to the president's desk. "There is no voter in the country that went to the polls and said, 'I'm voting for a bipartisan appropriations process,'" Vought said. "That may be the view of something that appropriators want to maintain." Both Murkowski and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the rescissions package, and warned of the cuts to public broadcasting, lack of transparency from the OMB and the possible effect it could have on legislating in the upper chamber. "I disagree with both those statements," Collins said of Vought's push for a more partisan appropriations process. "Just as with the budget that the President submitted, we had to repeatedly ask him and the agencies to provide us with the detailed account information, which amounts to 1000s of pages that our appropriators and their staff meticulously review." Fox News Digital reached out to the OMB for comment. Vought's comments came at roughly the same time as appropriators were holding a mark-up hearing of the military construction and veterans' affairs and Commerce, Justice and Science spending bills. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said during the hearing that Senate Republicans coalescing behind the rescissions package would only make hammering out spending bills more difficult, and argued that "trust" was at the core of the process. "That's part of why bipartisan bills are so important," she said. "But everyone has to understand getting to the finish line always depends on our ability to work together in a bipartisan way, and it also depends on trust." Other Republicans on the panel emphasized a similar point, that, without some kind of cooperation, advancing spending bills would become even more challenging. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said that finding "critical mass" to move spending bills was important, and warned that people have to "quit saying it's gotta just be my way or the highway," following threats Schumer's threats last week that the appropriations process could suffer should the rescissions package pass. "People better start recognizing that we're all gonna have to work together and hopefully get these [appropriations] bills to the floor and see what we can move," he said. "But if somebody just sits up and says, 'Oh, because there's a rescission bill, then I'm not going to work on Appropriations,' you can always find an excuse not to do something. Let's figure out how we can work forward."
