Senate Republicans and Democrats have advanced the first set of spending bills through the Senate, despite warnings from Democrats that partisan actions had eroded trust in the appropriations process. The bill, which would fund military construction and the VA, passed with bipartisan support, though tensions remain over past rescission efforts.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., indicated that Democrats still seek a bipartisan spending deal, though they remain frustrated with Republicans over previous rescission moves that slashed foreign aid and public broadcasting funding. The vote allows for amendments and debate on the bill, with the Senate Majority Leader John Thune calling for cooperation to avoid a government shutdown.
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. 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.
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 legislation could have signaled a rocky road ahead for funding the government and beating the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a partial government shutdown. Thune warned that Democrats could use their frustrations over the rescission bill to attempt to shut down the government, a move he called a ‘big mistake.’
Prior to the vote, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged passage of the bill through the procedural hurdle, noting that when she and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., took the helm of the committee, they committed to working together on spending bills. She acknowledged that it was still a ‘challenging legislative environment’ but emphasized the importance of the appropriations process as a fundamental responsibility of Congress.
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 has promised to have a confab with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and top Democrats on the Appropriations committees to discuss the process in both chambers in the weeks ahead.
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. Fetterman emphasized that shutting down the government would plunge the country into chaos and warned against such actions, despite disagreements on the contents of the spending bills.