See below for a statement from U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine on Senate passage of “yet another continuing resolution to keep the government funded.” As Senators Warner and Kaine point out, House Republicans now need to “put brinksmanship aside and join us in passing today’s legislation without delay.”
Also, see below for video of Sen. Warner talking to reporters a bit earlier today. Among other things, Sen. Warner said:
“There is a small group of extreme members of the House that want to hold the government hostage. They’re not going to vote for anything. And the fact is, the Republican majority now is, I believe, down to two votes – the thinnest majority of any time in our country’s history in the House of Representatives. So the only way the Speaker’s going to get anything done – and, you know, it’s just plain math – is he’s got to use the Democrats. And because he inherited a Rules Committee that was set up by the previous Speaker, where they ceded power to some of these extremists, there’s no way he can even get a rule for – and that means how you even bring a bill to the floor under, you know, traditional circumstances, because the no crowd…they don’t mind shutting down the government, they don’t mind the pain it causes to Americans for their ideological purposes. It’s abhorrent in my mind. But the way that I think [Speaker Johnson] will have to get the continuing resolutions passed and then the the appropriations is what’s called on the consent calendar. That requires not 218 votes, but 290 votes. So if there is no other path other than strong bipartisan majorities to get anything done now in the House of Representatives, and that was created, I think, in many ways by the previous Speaker trying to give in to the demands of this group of individuals who are so extreme they can’t even agree on what their demands are, other than they want to blow up the functioning of our government in many ways.”
STATEMENT OF U.S. SENS. MARK R. WARNER AND TIM KAINE
~ On Senate passage of yet another continuing resolution to keep the government funded ~
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement after the Senate approved a stopgap funding bill to fund some parts of the government through March 1 and others through March 8. This bill will keep the government open through early March by reauthorizing spending at Fiscal Year 2023 levels.
“It’s unfortunate that we once again need to step in at the eleventh hour to avert a government shutdown due to Congress’ inability to pass full spending bills in a timely manner. We urge House Republicans to put brinksmanship aside and join us in passing today’s legislation without delay. It’s time for Congress to start treating funding deadlines seriously and provide the government and the American people with the funding needed to respond to the novel needs of a new fiscal year. We look forward to working with our colleagues these next six weeks to fulfill Congress’ most basic duty and finally push a bipartisan long-term agreement through the finish line.”
This legislation marks the third time that Congress has punted its responsibility to deliver a spending bill for Fiscal Year 2024, having previously passed continuing resolutions on September 30 and November 17.
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