NEW YORK- New York’s U.S. Senators, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have infuriated many within their own party after voting with Republicans to advance a bill that will fund government through September 30th. Gillibrand and Schumer were two of 10 Senate Democrats who supported the bill, which included billions of dollars of cuts across federal agencies and increased spending on defense.
Schumer, who led the effort among the Senate Democrats, said that the step was necessary to avoid a government shutdown. While Democrats hold the minority in the chamber, the GOP spending plan needed at least 60 votes in the Senate to advance requiring the support of at least seven Democrats.
Just one day before supporting the GOP spending plan, Gillibrand made public a letter she sent to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins decrying proposed cuts to the agency’s workforce and healthcare services for veterans. She, along with other Democrats, sought to block the GOP plan right up until the Friday evening funding deadline when they flipped.
In a press statement explaining her vote Gillibrand said, “President Trump and Elon Musk directed House Republicans to pass a partisan spending bill without any Democratic input. To be clear, I oppose the policies in this bill.” She went on to say that she voted for the bill because she believes that shutting down the government will have a worse impact on her constituents than approving the GOP plan.
Schumer offered similar justification for his support of the bill, saying that by not approving the measure Trump would gain outsized power during a period of government shutdown. He said he feared the President, along with his advisor Elon Musk, would make more aggressive reductions to programs and the federal workforce during a period of shutdown.
President Trump took to social media, praising Schumer for his decision. “Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing– Took ‘guts’ and courage!” the President wrote.
The move created a deep divide in the Democratic party, with many unhappy because the funding bill was their first opportunity in Trump’s second term to negotiate with the President and Republican House and Senate majorities.
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