Cornyn Blames Senate Democrats for 'Schumer Shutdown'

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) shared a statement on the Senate floor regarding the Democrat Party's "hypocrisy" concerning the impending government shutdown, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that will occur on March 14 if a spending bill is not passed.

Republicans in the House (almost entirely along party lines) passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through September, but Democrats in the upper chamber couldn't get the Senate version to the 60-vote necessary threshold to send the bill President Donald Trump's (R) desk.

Before the vote took place, Sen. Cornyn stated that the Democrats would own the "Schumer Shutdown" if a spending bill is not passed.

"It remains to be seen whether our [Democrat] colleagues here in the Senate will vote for a Schumer shutdown or not. The cognitive dissonance, though, is striking, and I think worth commenting on. If I listen to our colleagues across the aisle, they claim to have a lot of concern for the federal workers that depend on government funding. They talk a pretty good game," said Sen. Cornyn. So I find it interesting that so many of them in the House cast a vote that would put 1000s, even hundreds of 1000s, of federal workers out of work, which is what results when the government shuts down."

Cornyn continued, explaining the Republican point of view in which the upper chamber faces the responsibility for not sending a spending bill to the President's desk.

"Last year, the Senate appropriations bill, on a bipartisan basis, passed all but one of their 12 appropriations bills, and what did the majority leader, Senator Schumer at the time, what did he do? He simply refused to schedule any of those appropriation bills for a vote," said Cornyn. "So it is because of democratic dysfunction that we find ourselves now in a continuing resolution situation, rather than having already attended to what in effect was last year's business in passing appropriations bills for the entire fiscal year."

The Texas senator concluded by hammering his belief home that Democrats are to blame for shutting the government down, and that their emotions from the previous election cycle have gotten the best of them.

"Well, if our Democratic colleagues don't like voting for another CR, I would encourage them to take that up with their now minority leader as this falls squarely on his shoulders. But the truth is, most of all, our Democratic colleagues are just mad about the outcome of November 5, the November 5 election here in the Senate, I'm glad the Senate Republicans are working to pass this necessary. CR, that will ensure that we prevent a government shutdown," said Cornyn.