Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday sent a letter calling on House Republicans "to follow the Senate's lead" and work with Democrats on appropriations bills.
"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 wrote in his "Dear Colleague" letter, according to Politico.
He offered praise for Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., and ranking Republican Susan Collins, R-Maine, noting that 12 appropriations bills have been passed out of committee with bipartisan support.
"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 wrote.
The letter comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., backed out of an agreement with President Joe Biden on spending caps and has begun focusing on legislation that has little chance of passing against Democrat opposition.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., commented on this deal in a speech on Thursday.
"The speaker and the president reached an agreement, which I supported, in connection with raising the debt ceiling, to set the spending levels for next year," McConnell said. "The House then turned around and passed spending levels that were below that level. … That's not going to be replicated in the Senate."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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