Unless Congress agrees on spending legislation by Oct. 1, the government will shut down.
{mosads}House Republicans announced Wednesday that they would advance a government spending bill that defunds ObamaCare this week. It would keep the government funded through Dec. 15 at the current $986 billion spending rate.
Democrats and the administration have said they will reject any spending measure that overturns the president’s healthcare law. Murray said Republicans are manufacturing an economic crisis by threatening a government shutdown.
She said there is a “civil war” within the GOP because Tea Party members are forcing a vote to defund ObamaCare.
“A full-scale civil war has broken out within the Republican Party — they are in absolute disarray,” Murray said. “While we wait for Republicans to join us at the table, the Tea Party is pushing our country closer and closer to a government shutdown.”
Some Republicans have said the plan to tie government funding to an ObamaCare repeal is ill conceived and will risk the economic recovery. But Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) needs Tea Party members to pass a spending resolution solely with GOP votes.
“They’ve decided they’re willing to play politics with Americans’ healthcare,” Murray said. “They’ve decided it’s better for them to sabotage this law than improve it. And they’ve decided that beyond all that, they’re also willing to devastate our nation’s economy to kill this law. We will not let that happen.”