Americans don’t want a Schumer shutdown; they want a Trump budget

By U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn
R-Tennessee

The federal government is set to run out of money, which would deprive service members of their hard-earned paychecks, halt grants to state and local law enforcement, jeopardize care for seniors, and freeze other services that Americans depend on. This shutdown is completely avoidable. Yet, Senator Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his Democrat colleagues are determined to make it happen.

Republicans in the House of Representatives already passed a stop-gap funding bill that would keep the government open through November 21. By keeping spending at current levels, it would provide us the time we need in Congress to pass all of Senate Republicans’ appropriations bills through regular order. This would ensure that President Trump’s America First agenda is reflected in government spending, which is exactly what the American people voted for in November.

Senate Democrats, however, are using the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold to block the stop-gap funding measure from moving forward. Instead of keeping spending at current levels while we work through our appropriations bills, Democrats have proposed tacking on $1.5 trillion in additional spending.

$1.5 trillion. With our national debt at $37.5 trillion and climbing, Americans are demanding fiscal sanity. They want an end to the Biden-era reckless spending that sent inflation to four-decade highs. Yet Democrats are holding up a six-week funding bill to push a massive wishlist of far-left spending.

This effort is grossly irresponsible. It’s time for Democrats to come to the table and pass the stop-gap measure that keeps funding at current levels—something they had no problem doing under President Biden. In fact, during the last administration, Democrats voted to pass such measures 13 times.

Just last year, Schumer warned against government shutdowns, saying that lawmakers who support them “think that it’s perfectly fine to have VA offices close, or to endanger nutrition programs that help seven million moms and kids, or suspend disaster aid for farmers.”

“This is what the American people want to see: both sides working together and governing responsibly,” the Democrat leader added. “No chaos. No spectacle. No shutdown.”

Republicans agree. Now is not the time for partisan spectacle. Now is the time to get to work for the American people and to deliver on the mandate they gave President Trump to restore fiscal responsibility and put our economy back on track.

Already, we’re seeing the success of the America First agenda. Last week, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew by an annual rate of 3.8 percent between April and June, the fastest pace in nearly two years. Jobless claims are falling. Inflation is down 68 percent from its height under President Biden. Since Inauguration Day, American industry has brought in nearly $9 trillion in new investments.

Americans applaud this success. They want to see more of it, and Democrats should heed their call. By passing the stop-gap measure and enacting President Trump’s appropriations bills, Congress can help deliver it.