Nancy forgot to coordinate with Dingy Reid. Senate minority leader Harry Reid said Democrats want assurances from Boehner that a clean funding bill will pass the House before they would support McConnell’s plan and allow the votes to move forward.
House Democratic leaders are telling their rank and file to vote against a three-week spending measure that would keep the Homeland Security Department funded after a Friday deadline.
In what has evolved into a game of partisan brinkmanship, Democrats say they will approve nothing short of a seven-month funding bill, which would last until the end of the fiscal year. But the tactic could be a risky political move. Republicans are offering a “clean” bill to keep the department running and Democrats could end up shouldering the blame for a partial closure if they vote against the measure and it doesn’t pass.
“The House Democratic leadership is whipping against this bill,” an aide told the Washington Examiner, “If House Republicans want to end up with another manufactured crisis that risks our national security in a matter of days they can do it with 218 votes of their own.”
House Republicans plan on introducing a measure Friday that would fund the department for another three weeks. They’ll take up the bill hours before the department runs out of money when a stopgap measure expires.
A temporary funding bill would buy the GOP time to force House and Senate lawmakers to compromise on a larger deal now up for debate in the Senate.[…]
Reid oversaw changes to the Senate rules in 2013 that make it easier and faster for the House and Senate to go to conference on a bill, but Democrats can still filibuster because 60 votes are required and Republicans control only 54 seats.