Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Final Passage Of The Bipartisan Continuing Resolution To Avoid A Harmful Government Shutdown

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the final vote to pass a bipartisan continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

I have good news for the American people: this Friday night, there will be no government shutdown.

Because of bipartisan cooperation, we are keeping the government open without any poison pills or harmful cuts to vital programs—a great outcome for the American people.

I am pleased that Speaker Johnson realized he needed Democratic votes to avoid a shutdown. If the Speaker is willing to work with Democrats, and resist the siren song of the hard right in the House, then we can avoid shutdowns in the future and finish the work of funding the government. Today’s CR is a good first step and a very good omen for the future. I hope we see more bipartisanship down the line.

Every time I’ve gotten on the phone with the Speaker, I’ve stressed we need bipartisanship if we want to finish the appropriations process. I hope the new Speaker continues to choose the bipartisan approach, as he commendably has in his first foray.

Now, keeping the government open is a good outcome, but we have a lot of more to do after Thanksgiving. We must finish passing President Biden’s emergency supplemental with aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian assistance for innocent civilians in Gaza, and funds for the Indo-Pacific. We will keep working with Leader McConnell on a way forward.

I know that both sides genuinely care about providing aid to Israel and Ukraine and helping innocent civilians in Gaza—so I hope we can come to an agreement, even if neither side gets everything they insist on.

We will also complete our work on the National Defense Authorization Act before the end of the year.

For now, I thank my colleagues for voting to keep the government open. I thank Leader McConnell, Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins and all the appropriators.

Again, no government shutdown, no cuts to vital programs, no poison pills: this is a great outcome for the American people.

###