A group of 16 Senate Democrats – including some with potential presidential ambitions – voted against a resolution that ended the three-day government shutdown.
Many of the holdouts said they did not trust President Donald Trump to come up with a deal to help DREAMers who came to the country illegally as children.
Others weren’t satisfied by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statement of his intention to bring up immigration legislation within 18 weeks – in a statement that included plenty of wiggle room for the Republican.
‘My concern with the three-week extension adopted today is that the Republican leadership will fail to negotiate for 15 of the next 17 days,’ said Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley.
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) speaks to reporters after the Senate reached an agreement to end the shut down of the federal government on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 22, 2018. She was among 16 Democrats voting against a funding resolution Monday
‘Leader McConnell’s track record of keeping his ‘commitments’ is thin at best,’ Merkley complained.
The resolution passed anyway on a on a 81-18 vote. Two Republicans joined the Democratic holdouts.
California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, a first-term senator who has drawn speculation of presidential ambitions, said it was ‘follhardy’ to believe McConnell made a binding commitment.
‘Listen, I’m disappointed with a conversation that suggests a false choice: You either fund the government or you take care of these DACA kids,’ Harris said, CNN reported. ‘We can do both.’
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also voted against it.
In the House, Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California blasted the three-week continuing resolution, which included a six-year extension of authorization for a children’s health insurance program, considered a win for Democrats despite their retreat from using the funding bill to try to secure legal status on DACA.
Senator Bernie Sanders talks at Convocation Hall to talk about Canadian healthcare at the University of Toronto in Toronto. October 29, 201
Sen. Cory Booker D-N.J., questions Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. He was among 16 Democrats voting against a funding resolution Monday
President Donald Trump
‘I refuse to be an enabler to the Republicans’ failure any longer,’ said Pelosi on the House floor shortly before the vote to reopen the government. She blasted the ‘utter incompetence of the Republican controlled government.’
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer complained during the shutdown after a Friday meeting with Trump over cheeseburgers that negotiating with the president was ‘like negotiating with Jell-O.’
On the House side, it was a much more lopsided result, with 144 Democrats voting against a resolution to reopen the government, after many demanded any deal include a solution for DREAMers, whose status is to expire in March.
McConnell spoke on the Senate floor to announce the arrangement, which some Democrats complained was vague, but Schumer accepted as a way to end the shutdown.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, also voted against the resolution
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was among those with possible presidential ambitions who voted ‘no’
‘All of us want to make life better for the American people. Bearing this in mind, I hope and intend that we can reach bipartisan solutions on issues such as military spending, immigration and border security, and disaster relief before this February 8th deadline. But yesterday evening, I restated my position that these negotiations can’t last forever,’ McConnell said on the floor.
‘Should these issues not be resolved by the time the funding bill before us expires on February 8th, so long as the government remains open it – so long as it remains open – it would be my intention to take up legislation here in the Senate that would address DACA, border security, and related issues – as well as disaster relief, defense funding, health care, and other important matters,’ he added.
Others voting against it were Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who tangled with Trump at an immigration meeting, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Also voting no were Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jon Tester of Montana – a rare red state lawmaker among the group, andRon Wyden of Oregon.