WASHINGTON – Top House Democrats on Friday threw Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) under the bus after he announced he would help House Republicans pass their extreme spending bill to avert a government shutdown.
Incredibly, Schumer’s longtime House counterpart, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), publicly lashed him for setting up “a false choice” between the GOP’s bill and a shutdown, emphasizing that Democrats have long been pushing for another option: passing a short-term bill to simply keep the government funded at its current levels in order to buy more time for lawmakers to hash out a longer-term, bipartisan spending package.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across America,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.”
The federal government was set to run out of money at midnight, and the Senate was weighing two bad options: vote for the GOP bill that already passed in the House and that would give President Donald Trump and his billionaire buddy, Elon Musk, new legal authority to decide how to spend taxpayer money, or let the government shut down.
Ultimately, the Republican bill passed Friday evening with the help of 10 Democratic senators, including Schumer.
House Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the GOP bill earlier this week, given its draconian cuts to things like health care, veterans benefits and NIH cancer research. The bill, which funds the government through Sept. 30, also gives Trump unchecked power to move around billions of dollars in federal money – a power that some Democrats fear he could use to enrich himself or Musk, or to strip money from Democrat-led states.
A Senate Democratic aide gave some examples of how Trump could abuse this new power granted by the GOP’s bill: He could potentially divert millions of dollars within the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget to Starlink, Musk’s satellite company. Trump could also move millions of dollars provided by the Great American Outdoors Act, which supports projects on federal lands, from California to a deep red state like Idaho.
“If we go through this shutdown, we can at least force Republicans back to the table,” said this Democratic aide, who requested speaking on background to avoid getting his boss in trouble. “Any legislative outcome will be better than something drafted solely by House Republicans.”
The aide added, “This is the card to play here, if we’re willing to play the card and stand up and have this fight.”
Most Democratic senators agreed with House Democrats, saying “hell no” to the Republican bill. But Schumer unexpectedly announced Wednesday that he’d help pass it because he wants to avoid a government shutdown, and on Friday, he followed through with it.
He’s drawn loud criticism from within his party for days, but remarkably, he’s now facing fire from close allies in the House.
In her statement, Pelosi hailed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for “his courageous rejection of this false choice” and called on Democratic senators to “listen to the women” in their caucus. She specifically referred to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), their party’s top appropriators in each chamber. They have put forward a bill to fund the government at its current levels for four more weeks.
“America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse,” Pelosi said of the GOP’s bill. “Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way.”
During a Friday press conference, Jeffries repeatedly dodged questions about whether he has confidence in Schumer amid the funding fight. He ignored the question a couple of times and later accused reporters of “engaging in parlor games” by pressing him to answer it.
The message he really wanted to send was that House Democrats are united against the GOP bill and ready to fight Trump and Republicans over it ― a spirit not exactly unifying Democratic senators.
“Our general view is we do not want to shut down the government. But we are not afraid of a government funding showdown,” Jeffries said. “And we will win that showdown, because we stand on the side of the American people.”
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“Has Schumer acquiesced to Trump?” one reporter asked.
“That’s a question that is best addressed by the Senate,” Jeffries said. “The vote hasn’t taken place yet. The House Democrats’ position is very clear.
