Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointed a finger at Democrats for creating "dysfunction" in the chamber Wednesday regarding the passage of appropriations bills.
According to The Hill, the Kentucky Republican told reporters during a Thursday press conference that Democrats had a desire to clog up and slow down the process of passing bills to keep the government running.
"The one area of dysfunction is clearly attributable to the minority," McConnell said. "It was obvious to me they did not want to have a normal appropriations process. It's pretty darn clear.
"They had an obvious desire to ball up the appropriations process and put us in a CR/omnibus situation."
Congress passed a continuing resolution on Wednesday that will ensure the government is funded through Dec. 9. Another piece of legislation will have to be passed on or before that date or the government could be shut down.
Congress is now on a break and will not return until after the November election. That will give lawmakers a month to figure out a solution to avoid a shutdown.
McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have both advocated for mini-buses as an alternative to working with outgoing President Barack Obama on an omnibus bill that would contain more than $1 trillion in spending.
Democrats, meanwhile, slammed their Republican colleagues at their own press conference.
"This Republican Senate has been a flop and that's an understatement," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, The Hill reports.
Democrats were seeking to avoid a spending fight for 2017, but this week's continuing resolution is merely a temporary fix.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.