Several Senate Democrats are not tipping their hand yet on whether they would vote for a funding package to keep the government open until the end of September, as they wait to see if the House can pass it this afternoon.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said, “I’m going to wait to see how I’m going to vote until I know exactly what they’re sending to us, because I think that their passing it today is by no means a sure thing.” Blumenthal added, “It’s not a CR, it’s actually a budget bill that contains drastic reductions in non-defense spending, is really repugnant, and I’m hoping that the House will think twice about passing it, given that it’ll have great difficulty here in the Senate.”
Other senators also panned the House bill, but still didn’t rule out voting for it.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said “I think we need to have an appropriations process.” However, pressed on whether she would vote for the bill to keep the government open at the end of this week, she did not answer.
Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen did not answer when asked if she’d vote for the package.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine panned the bill and called on the House to knock it down, but he would not answer when pressed on how he would vote on it.
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said that he also “hasn’t decided yet.” Adding, “I want to see what’s in it.”
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego agreed, saying: “We’ll see what happens when it comes out of the House.”
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly said he “will take a look at it,” while noting that “this White House is already shutting down parts of the government, and they walked away from negotiations on appropriations bills, but I will take a look at it when we get the text of it.”
Meanwhile, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley made clear he doesn’t think any of his Democratic colleagues should cross party lines to support a GOP-led bill, calling the continuing resolution “a slush fund for Trump.” He argued in favor of the Democratic plan to pass a bill to extend funding for 30 days so bipartisan talks can continue over longer term appropriations bills because “the power of the purse rests with Congress.”
“I’m a hell no,” he added.
CNN’s Alison Main, Manu Raju and Sarah Davis contributed reporting to this post. This post has been updated with more senator reactions.
