Ryan to Schumer: Don’t shut down the government

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered a stern warning to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his fellow Senate Democrats on Thursday night, minutes after the House voted to avert a government shutdown.

“Sen. Schumer, do not shut down the federal government. Do not jeopardize funding for our military and for our national security. Do not jeopardize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” Ryan told reporters after the successful House vote.

“It is risky. It is reckless. And it is wrong,” he continued.

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“I ask the American people to understand this: The only people standing in the way of keeping the government open are Senate Democrats,” Ryan said. “Whether there is a government shutdown or not is now entirely up to them.”

The Senate was expected to hold a procedural vote later Thursday night on the House-passed, one-month stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution.

But Senate Democrats and three Republicans have vowed to filibuster that funding bill, increasing the possibility of a government shutdown Friday night at midnight.

Senate Democrats say they won’t help fund the government until they get a deal to shield hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

Many of these immigrants are recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which President Trump has decided to end on March 5.

Democrats “are just holding this critical funding hostage for a deal on a completely unrelated immigration issue,” Ryan said. “Yes, we need to address the DACA program, and we are engaged in good-faith negotiations as we speak.

“But that deadline is weeks away.”