WASHINGTON, D.C. Jan. 22, 2018 (Gephardt Daily & UPI) — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats will vote to reopen the government today in an up-and-down vote on Capitol Hill.
Schumer made the announcement on the floor of the Senate Monday after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to tackle the issues of DACA and immigration if a long term funding agreement has not been reached by February 8.
“We will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating a global agreement with the commitment that if an agreement isn’t reached by Feb. 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to consideration of legislation dealing with DACA,” Schumer said.
“The Republican majority has 17 days to prevent the dreamers from being deported. Mr. President, we have away to address the fate of the dreamers, right now, instead of waiting until March,” Schumer said.
Schumer criticized the Republican Party and Donald Trump for “sitting on the sidelines” during the shutdown and negotiations.
“The Republican Party controls the House, the Senate, the presidency, but they were unable to keep the government open,” Schumer said.
“These days, you never know who to deal with when it comes to the Republicans,” he added. “They could never get a firm grip on what the president of their party wanted to do.”
“My recent offer to the president was a generous one, I put his signature campaign issue on the table in exchange for DACA, but still, he turned away. The great dealmaking president sat on the sidelines.”
Lawmakers in the Senate have been working since Friday, when government funding ran out, to produce a resolution dedicating more money to keeping federal services open and running. Negotiations on Saturday and Sunday failed before a Monday vote was set to try again.
