Congress is expected to vote on a one-week funding bill to keep the government running while working on a longer-term budget deal. But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is threatening to block the funding bill.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday objected to a deal on passing a one-week stopgap government funding bill, citing concerns about ongoing negotiations over a larger spending agreement.
Schumer said there were still unresolved “poison pill riders” being worked out on a longer spending deal that would fund the government through Sept. 30.
“Our position has been clear and it’s nothing new. No poison pill riders. The sooner we can resolve this issue, the quicker we can have an agreement on appropriations for 2017, so I object,” he said from the Senate floor.
He added that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been “cooperative and extremely helpful” but Democrats want to work on the remaining hurdles to a long-term deal before they can agree to pass the short-term continuing resolution (CR).
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