By Kaitlan Collins
As the Senate prepares to pass the budget this Friday, it appears that some Republicans are adamant about preventing the process from running smoothly.
In the past weeks both Republicans and Democrats have introduced their drafts of the budget. Democrats submitted “The American Revival Act” to the Office of the Senate Parliamentarian on November 21. On Monday, November 28, Democrats brought the budget framework to the floor.
Many Republicans want to ensure this budget is passed as soon as possible, especially including Senator Collins who urged Senators on the floor Monday not to allow the government to spiral into a shutdown. Collins stated, “I ask all of you to look beyond party lines and serve the people you were meant to serve…We are all here for that one purpose and a government shutdown is the last thing we need.”
However, it appears some other Republicans are trying to do the opposite of that. Senator Marco Rubio submitted a query into the validity of using reconciliation for the budget, citing that some sections of the Democrats’ budget don’t qualify for reconciliation. While this could clearly be a way for Republicans to be able to ensure they have more say in the outcome of the budget by removing reconciliation processes from the bill, it can also be seen as a show that Republicans want to filibuster the budget if reconciliation is not viable.
Were Republicans to stall or filibuster on Friday’s floor session, the government would be forced into a government shutdown. Not only would this be detrimental to the smooth running of our government, but it would also further hurt many families’ finances that rely on government salaries. A government shutdown in today’s economy would be detrimental for many people, and a terrible look for Republicans if they caused it.
Despite Republicans’ attempts to prevent reconciliation, the Senate parliamentarian found no reason why the budget would not qualify for reconciliation stating “all of the new spending by agencies noted by Senator Rubio in his memo, are in fact consistent with reconciliation”, making the Republicans’ attempts futile.
Eyes will certainly be on Republicans in committee and especially on the floor this week to see if they will further attempt to stall and uproot the budget proceedings. Republican senators should be careful how they proceed this week: no one likes a shutdown, especially not the American public.
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