AOC Rips Chuck Schumer’s ‘Tremendous Mistake,’ Says It’s ‘Unthinkable’ for Senate Dems to Back GOP Bill
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) ripped the decision by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a handful of other Senate Democrats to vote to advance a Republican spending bill.
This week, the House passed a continuing resolution that would avert a government shutdown set to begin on Saturday. All but one Democrat voted against the legislation, which would fund the government for six months. The resolution cuts $13 billion from various departments while increasing military spending by $6 billion. It would also slash $1.1 billion from the budget of Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has indicated it may attempt to impound – or refuse to spend – certain funding appropriated by Congress. Such a move would violate the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which the White House believes is unconstitutional.
The continuing resolution needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, which Republicans control 53-47. On Thursday, Schumer and at least half a dozen other Democrats indicated they would vote for the bill. Unless something unexpected happens, the Senate will pass the legislation.
Ocasio-Cortez joined Thursday’s edition of The Lead on CNN, where Jake Tapper noted Schumer’s approval.
“He is going to vote to allow there to be a simple majority vote,” he said. “You think that’s wrong?”
“I believe that’s a tremendous mistake,” she responded. “First and foremost, the American people, if anyone has held a town hall or has seen what has been happening in town halls, the American people, whether they are Republicans, independents, Democrats, are up in arms about Elon Musk and the actual gutting of federal agencies across the board. This continuing resolution codifies much of this chaos that Elon Musk is wreaking havoc on the federal government.”
She went on to call the legislation an “extreme spending bill” that “sacrifices congressional authority.”
“And so to me, it is almost unthinkable why Senate Democrats would vote to hand the few pieces of leverage that we have away for free when we’ve been sent here to protect Social Security, protect Medicaid, and protect Medicare,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Watch above via CNN.
