Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not put any major bills on the floor since the upper chamber returned from Thanksgiving recess, causing blowback from some Republicans.
Instead, the majority leader prioritized President Biden’s judicial nominees during their first week back, and “we are nowhere closer to a deal today than we were when Hamas attacked Israel,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, told Fox News Digital.
The Senate still has to work on the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Biden’s $106 billion national security supplemental package, the Farm Bill and a budget due early next year to keep the federal government’s lights on.
As lawmakers returned to the Hill last week, Schumer said in a “Dear Colleague” letter that there is much “that the Senate must get done before the end of the year.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conducts a news conference after the senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Just as we have done all year, it will take bipartisan cooperation to move these bills through the Senate. Senators should expect long days and nights, and potentially weekends in December,” he said.
“One of the most important tasks we must finish is taking up and passing a funding bill to ensure we as well as our friends and partners in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region have the necessary military capabilities to confront and deter our adversaries and competitors.”
But some GOP lawmakers are wondering why none of the major bills have made it to the floor as the end of the year quickly approaches and a long laundry list of to-do’s hasn’t been touched yet.
GOP SENATORS, HOUSE CONSERVATIVES CALL FOR ‘FISCAL SANITY’ AND STRONGER BORDER SECURITY
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Schumer has made hollow threats to force a vote on this $106 billion package while refusing to come to the table and negotiate,” Marshall told Fox News Digital on Monday.
“He may be able to bully his caucus into voting for this bogus bill, but Senate Republicans are dug in. We will not budge until meaningful border security policies are secured,” he said.
Marshall, who sits on the Senate Committee on the Budget and Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, said Republicans “will vote down cloture, and we will not move an inch until there’s a bill that puts our national security over foreign countries.”
He added, “My priorities are straightforward: Border, border, border.”
Senate Republicans have been leading the charge for border security measures, such as stricter asylum standards for migrants and beefing up border patrol in Biden’s national supplemental request that Congress must pass by the end of the month.
“I am beyond frustrated by this chamber’s uncanny ability to waste everyone’s time. When we have NDAA reauthorization, FAA reauthorization, Section 702 FISA reauthorization, a Farm Bill to pass, and a government to fund in a few short weeks, here we are barely taking a vote a day on nominations — give me a break,” Marshall said.
GOP SENATORS INTRODUCE STAND-ALONE BILL TO AID ISRAEL WITHOUT MORE FUNDING TO UKRAINE
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
BIDEN ADMIN URGES MAJOR FUNDING INCREASES FOR AID TO UKRAINE, ISRAEL AND GAZA CIVILIANS
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview last week that Schumer isn’t bringing up spending bills because “his goal is not to pass spending bills, but to have an omnibus.”
“Why aren’t we doing spending bills? Why isn’t Schumer having real negotiations on the border?” Scott said.
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An all-senators briefing on Ukraine and Israel funding will be held Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m. ET, sources familiar told Fox News Digital on Friday.
The White House’s supplemental request, which was sent to Congress in October, includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel (with $10.6 billion allocated for military aid), $13.6 billion for some border measures such as speeding up asylum processing, and significant investments in Indo-Pacific security assistance, totaling around $7.4 billion. Additionally, there’s $9 billion earmarked for humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Schumer’s office.
