Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday issued a blistering statement on how senators should handle a government funding vote that, without naming him, dinged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“Democratic senators should listen to the women,” Pelosi said. “Appropriations leaders [Rep.] Rosa DeLauro [D-Conn.] and [Sen.] Patty Murray [D-Wash.] have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement.”
“America has experienced a Trump shutdown before – but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For The People,” Pelosi said.
The statement comes a day after Schumer announced that he would vote to advance the House GOP-drafted stopgap bill to fund the government until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, averting a government shutdown that would start early Saturday morning.
Senate Republicans need at least eight Democrats to vote with them to advance the measure.
Schumer argued that while the continuing resolution (CR) is “very bad,” “the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” saying he believes it would allow President Trump “to take even much more power via a government shutdown.”
That position comes despite a wave of Senate Democrats opposing the funding bill, even those in competitive districts.
Just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), voted for the funding patch in the House earlier this week after Democratic leaders there urged their caucus to vote against it.
Pelosi praised House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for that position earlier in her statement: “I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill.”
“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 also said. “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.”
House Democrats, who are gathering for their annual issues retreat as their Senate counterparts grapple with the funding measure, are furious with Schumer for not holding the line and using a shutdown to negotiate a better funding deal.
