GOP senators led by Scott vow to halt legislation not related to budget

A group of 20 Republican senators vowed to stop any legislation that is not related to passing the 2024 budget in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday.

The senators, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), warned Schumer not to let the chamber get distracted, which could lead to a pileup of bills that ultimately end in a December omnibus.

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“Nothing can stand in the way of this work. For this reason, we the undersigned senators pledge to withhold our support for any vote to proceed to items unrelated to appropriations bills,” the senators wrote. “There is no more important work for the Senate during this time than debating, amending and passing appropriations bills without resorting to a giant package dumped on the conference right before the December holiday.”

“We urge you to present a plan to the Republican Conference for how you intend to pass the remaining appropriations bills and conference them with the House in a manner that respects an open amendment process and which does not end in a December omnibus spending package,” they added.

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP

Two senators have confirmed the authenticity of the letter to the Washington Examiner.

The letter comes a few days after Congress passed a much-needed continuing resolution that temporarily avoided a government shutdown just hours before the deadline. However, the senators are concerned that Congress will find itself in the same place again come November if the Senate does not start working on funding when it returns from a brief recess for the remainder of the week.

“The best I can tell is probably for the next two weeks, the Senate won’t be making any progress. So unfortunately, we may find ourselves back where we found ourselves this weekend in 45 days,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who signed Wednesday’s letter, said on Tuesday. “Sen. Schumer seems disinterested in making any progress.”

Democrats on the Appropriations Committee have also expressed a desire for Schumer to schedule floor votes on 12 bills that were passed last week, which individually fund different sectors of the federal government.

“The Senate Appropriations Committee passed every bill out of committee with big bipartisan margins, some of them unanimously, so I would like to see us take them and pass them on the floor,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told the Washington Examiner.

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The Senate is only in session on Tuesday and Wednesday this week after Thursday’s votes were canceled so members could travel to California for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s funeral. The votes scheduled for those two days have been related to advancing some of President Joe Biden’s nominations.

The Senate will return on Tuesday after the Columbus Day holiday, which falls on Monday, Oct. 9.