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The stopgap spending bill that Republicans in the House of Representatives passed on Tuesday put Democrats into a bind: Do they oppose the bill and risk a government shutdown or do they support a bill that significantly slashes government spending and allows Elon Musk to run even more roughshod over various departments?
So far, they seem no closer to answering that question.
The bill includes steep cuts to major Democratic priorities. It slashes the spending for the CURES Act, which focuses on accelerating development of medical products and delivering them to patients, from $407 million to $127 million. It slashes spending for programs meant for Native American tribes.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland specifically flagged how the bill reduces spending for Washington, D.C. police.
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“I want to be clear, there are lots of reasons to hate the House Republican CR, that is one of them, and it doesn’t save taxpayers a dime,” he told The Independent. “That provision on D.C. is all about Congress trying to run the District of Columbia, doesn’t save federal taxpayers.”
Republicans rallied on Tuesday and managed to get all but one Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky – to vote for the bill while only one Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it. When that happened, Democrats in the House signaled that their Senate counterparts would need to take a hard line against it.
“This actually creates much more waste and much more of a slush fund, because there’s far fewer of those reporting abilities for accountability,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent.
Progressive groups surely will raise hell if Democrats collaborate with Republicans, but Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of the most outspoken members of the Democratic caucus, said he did not think in those terms despite the fact he will vote against the bill.
“My job is to do the right thing for for the country and for my state,” he told The Independent. “I don’t want to set up slush funds for the president. I ultimately want to make sure that the services that matter most in Connecticut, funded in this, this doesn’t do it.”
Other Democrats seemed more evasive and seemed to concede the fact that Republicans outsmarted them: by passing the continuing resolution without Democratic input when government dollars run out on Friday and then leaving for recess as the Senate is about to adjourn for recess, they all but dared them to vote for the bill.
“I haven’t decided how I’m going to vote, but I think these are two terrible options and either one is going to end up hurting Minnesotans,” Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, who is retiring, told The Independent.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts gave a more forceful denunciation of the legislation.
“I don’t know how anyone can vote for it,” she told The Independent.
Democrats have historically not supported shutting down the government. They see themselves as the party that cares about governing and when Republicans tire out from their shenanigans, they provide the votes for continuing resolutions to prevent shutdowns, which would stop vital programs from running.
Trump’s ability to make Republicans, even with tight margins in the House, fall in line, changes that dynamic.
After Democrats had their lunch, Warren and Smith did not speak to reporters. Instead, they scurried back to their offices. And those that did offered evasive answers. Instead, they talked about allowing for a 30-day continuing resolution to allow for negotiations on spending to continue.
“We have an opportunity here to put a 30 day CR on the floor, and see if we have the votes for that,” Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told The Independent.
Sen. Alex Padilla of California hails from a state still reeling from the wildfires. But he offered a similar solution to Kelly.
“I think the best way forward is a 30 day CR, continue to negotiate and include disaster aid,” he said. The legislation leaves out aid for wildfire victims, which would likely be a dealbreaker.
But the House GOP would be in no mood to bring their members back to Washington and break a planned recess, especially to help out Democrats.
As long as that remains, Democrats will likely be stuck between two bad choices.
