Schumer to blame House Republicans for any government shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to his Democratic colleagues Thursday that a potential government shutdown later this month would be the fault of “political games” by House Republicans.

“When the Senate returns next week, our focus will be on funding the government and preventing House Republican extremists from forcing a government shutdown,” Schumer wrote in the letter, first reported by Politico.

House Republicans have threatened a shutdown when the federal budget runs out Sept. 30 unless they get the budget cuts they want. Schumer vowed to pass bipartisan appropriations bills and urged the House to follow suit.

“The only way to avoid a shutdown is through bipartisanship, so I have urged House Republican leadership to follow the Senate’s lead and pass bipartisan appropriations bills,” he said.

The Democratic leader compared the rising tensions to the fights over the debt ceiling this spring, which ended in a difficult compromise for both parties and put House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in hot water among the most conservative wing of his party.

“We cannot afford the brinkmanship or hostage-taking we saw from House Republicans earlier this year when they pushed our country to the brink of default to appease the most extreme members of their party,” Schumer continued. 

“Because of what we accomplished last year, our economy is gaining momentum; we cannot afford to jeopardize that progress because MAGA Republicans want to play political games,” he added.

Also in the letter, Schumer lauded landmark Biden administration legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act passed this Congress, as well as its commitment to addressing artificial intelligence through bipartisan forums this month.

He also pointed to recent Biden administration accomplishments, including expanding overtime for workers and moving forward on Medicare drug negotiations.

“Finding compromise is never easy, but our efforts to do precisely that have led to significant accomplishments under this majority,” he said.