September 12, 2023 08:00 PM
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has called out the heads of both Democrats and Republicans of the House of Representatives and the Senate as concerns continue to grow over a government shutdown.
Lee predicted that in the final days ahead of the potential shutdown, House and Senate leaders would bring forth legislation at the last minute, adding in jest that “the law firm of Schumer, McConnell, McCarthy, and Jeffries” would require a quick vote from Congress, which elicited laughs from those around him.
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“You’ve got to pass this thing, and if you don’t, there will be a shutdown,” Lee said. “If there’s a shutdown, we will blame you for that, but hey, vote how you want. You will have no opportunity to amend this. You will have no opportunity to read it, to understand what’s in it, to share it with your constituents, to object to it, to improve it, to cut it! Nothing!”
Mike Lee: “On September 30 we’ll run out of money. At some point in the days leading up to that, a small handful of appropriators will write something up with a push from the law firm of Schumer, McConnell, McCarthy and Jeffries, and it will materialize.” pic.twitter.com/9eWx9Qpjv3
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 12, 2023
The concerns about the potential shutdown come as Congress faces a deadline of Sept. 30 to pass various spending bills.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed a preliminary vote on a slate of bipartisan funding bills in an effort to display a united front amid the spending standoff with House Republicans. The Senate took the first procedural hurdle in passing the legislation by a vote of 85-12, with all 12 of the “no” votes being from Senate Republicans.
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Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) claimed on Sept. 3 that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to enact a government shutdown as a means to help him “hang on to the U.S. Senate” going into 2025 after the next major election year for the United States.
The potential government shutdown could also be a road bump for House Republicans as they try to impeach President Joe Biden, which many Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have called for. On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that the House would open an impeachment inquiry into Biden, calling it the “logical next step” in House Republicans’ investigation into the Biden family.