by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators voted Friday against advancing a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government open through September, charging Republicans with ramming through a harmful “continuing resolution” without consulting Democrats.
Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, however, were on the losing side, as nine Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in a 62-38 vote to move forward with the bill. The measure was expected to gain final passage Friday night.
Warnock said Republicans put Democrats in an impossible position in forcing the Senate to vote on a bill that already had passed the House without a single Democratic vote.
“Instead of working together to actually improve people’s lives, craven politicians shut the door on bipartisan conversation and reemerged with an ultimatum: vote for a partisan government funding package or let the government shut down,” Warnock said.
“Make no mistake, this government funding bill is bad policy: it would spike grocery prices, cut investments in education and health care, and defund care for service members exposed to burn pits.”
Ossoff suggested a better alternative for Republicans would have been to negotiate a 30-day stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown, giving Congress time to work out a bipartisan budget.
“The House bill … irresponsibly fails to impose any constraints on the reckless and out-of-control Trump administration,” Ossoff said. “The administration is gutting the CDC (the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the VA (Veterans Administration) while destabilizing the economy. Both parties in Congress must fulfill our constitutional obligation to check the president.”
Senate Democrats who voted to advance the bill – spearheaded by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York – argued that a government shutdown would have played into President Donald Trump’s hands by allowing the president and advisor Elon Musk even freer rein to further dismantle federal government agencies and fire thousands of workers.
