House Democrats Issue Plan To Reopen Government By Passing Six Bipartisan Bills

Democrats are slated to retake the House on Thursday, and the party has decided on a strategy to reopen the government.

Six bipartisan bills pertaining to the Senate’s budget have been outlined as a package, which Democrats plan to vote for. This package will reopen the Department of Homeland Security, providing it with its funding until February 8. It will also temporarily maintain the $1.3 billion allotted for border security money, which can be used for maintaining the barriers.

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined together for a statement on Monday, saying, “The President is using the government shutdown to try to force an expensive and ineffective wall upon the American people, but Democrats have offered two bills which separate the arguments over the wall from the government shutdown.”

Pelosi and Schumer have worked closely together, both believing the bipartisan appeal this package enjoyed in the Senate prior to the partial government shutdown will place some pressure on Republicans to vote for it as well. “It would be the height of irresponsibility and political cynicism for Senate Republicans to now reject the same legislation they have already supported,” both politicians stated, adding how Senate Republicans who decide against voting for it would be “complicit with President Trump.”

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The government has been shut down for ten days. While Donald Trump initially said he would proudly own a shutdown if it meant securing funding for his border wall, the White House later softened its stance. Currently, the president is expressing his desire to reopen the government. In a Monday interview with Fox News’ Pete Segseth, Trump claimed, “I’m here, I’m ready to go. It’s very important. A lot of people are looking to get their paycheck, and so I’m ready to go anytime they want.”

Continuing, however, Trump added that they “are not giving up” on his border wall campaign promise. “We have to have border security and the wall is a big part of border security, the biggest part.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does not plan to advance any legislations until Trump signs off on it. A poll taken last month demonstrates that 47 percent of the population blamed the shutdown on the President, not Democrats.