Fetterman tells Democrats to ‘cut it short’ after colleagues reject bill to pay troops
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is giving his party direct advice during the 23-day shutdown: “Cut the crap” and reopen the government.
Fetterman criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to block legislation paying essential federal workers and U.S. military personnel during Thursday’s shutdown. The Pennsylvania Democrat has become increasingly critical of his party’s shutdown strategy as the challenges of underfunding become more visible to Americans. (RELATED: Democrats reject bipartisan bill to pay troops, ‘essential’ federal workers during shutdown)
“Just open this up and stop the bullshit,” Fetterman told reporters Thursday after the failed vote to ensure millions of federal workers won’t lose their pay when the new pay period begins Friday. “I don’t care who wins, who loses, who blinks.”
“America is losing,” Fetterman added.
Fetterman was one of three Democrats to support GOP-authored legislation aimed at paying federal employees reporting to work during the shutdown and military personnel. The bill failed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold due to majority opposition from Democrats.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps feed more than 40 million Americans and its funding will expire on November 1, barring new appropriations. More than 25 states, including Pennsylvania, are warning they will freeze benefits by that date if the shutdown continues.
“And now people are wondering: Where’s our SNAP? Hey, where does our food come from?” Fetterman also said. “This is not a political game.”
Senate Democrats, however, show no signs of abandoning their tough tactics. Schumer led nearly every Democratic lawmaker — notably with the exception of Fetterman — in filibustering bipartisan legislation to reopen the government on a dozen occasions.
So far, Democrats have remained adamant that any government funding deal must include an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies as well as various partisan policy demands.
Fetterman, however, agrees with Republicans that policies unrelated to government funding should be debated once the shutdown ends.
“Two million Pennsylvanians rely on SNAP and more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians use these tax credits to make health insurance more affordable,” Fetterman said. “I’m willing to bet the Venn diagram is basically a circle, and that’s a double whammy for people.”
“It’s the Democrats’ Sophie’s Choice. Starving people and health insurance,” Fetterman continued, using a common phrase for an incredibly difficult decision. “I want both, but I just don’t agree at all on which tactic is appropriate.”
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 2: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks as Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) looks on during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
A majority of Democrats explained their objection by arguing that the measure empowered President Donald Trump and did not guarantee that all federal workers would be paid during the shutdown.
“If you allow them to decide who they’re going to keep in the federal government and who they’re going to pay, you’re also giving them a blank check as to who they’re going to send home and who they’re going to punish by not paying,” Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on the Senate floor Thursday. “If you let them decide who gets paid and who doesn’t, you’re weaponizing this illegality, you’re arming the federal government. »
Republican lawmakers countered that Democrats sought to use unpaid federal workers in the defunding fight as “leverage” to enact policy concessions from Republicans.
The Senate is expected to vote next week on a bill introduced by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would pay airport workers during the shutdown. A similar debate over whether to pay federal workers and troops during the government shutdown is likely to be repeated before the standoff ends.
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