[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 146 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6191-S6192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, to the surprise of 
virtually no one, Speaker Johnson's deeply flawed and highly partisan 
CR failed by a vote of 202 to 220. The ``no'' votes included Democrats, 
Republicans, fiscal hawks, conservative ideologues, and people in 
between. In other words, there was broad opposition to the Speaker's 
partisan maneuver. It is time the Speaker moves on.
  Sadly, time is not a luxury that Congress has right now. Today is 
September 19. The government shutdown is September 30. That is 11 days 
away. And instead of doing the bipartisan work everyone knows is 
required for avoiding a shutdown, the House Republican leadership has 
wasted 2 weeks--2 weeks--listening to Donald Trump's ridiculous claims 
on the campaign trail.
  Now that their efforts have failed, House Republicans don't seem to 
have any plan for actually keeping the government open. So the Senate 
will step in. Later today, I will file cloture on a legislative vehicle 
that will enable us to prevent a Trump shutdown in the event that 
Speaker Johnson does not work with us in a bipartisan, bicameral 
manner.
  Both sides are going to spend the next few days trying to figure out 
the best path remaining for keeping the government open. By filing 
today, I am giving the Senate maximum flexibility for preventing a 
shutdown.
  Democrats and Americans don't want a Trump shutdown. I dare say most 
Republicans, at least in this Chamber, don't want to see a Trump 
shutdown. And the American people certainly don't want their elected 
representatives in Washington creating a shutdown for the sake of 
Donald Trump's ridiculous claims, when it is clear he doesn't even know 
how the legislative process works.
  Senators are ready to work this process the right way: Democrats 
talking to Republicans, both sides at the negotiating table, finding a 
way to keep the government open without partisan hoopla.
  The Speaker must choose: Either keep paying blind obeisance to Donald

[[Page S6192]]

Trump and his ridiculous claims or work with both parties to spare the 
American people from a Republican shutdown.
  And just a parenthetical note: How does anyone expect Donald Trump to 
be a President when he has such little understanding of the legislative 
process? He is daring the Congress to shut down. I remember he did that 
with Leader Pelosi and I in his office a while back. It didn't work out 
too well for him. Our Republican colleagues should not blindly follow 
Donald Trump. He doesn't know what he is doing. He doesn't have a plan, 
and, frankly, he doesn't know what he is talking about.