More than a dozen Senate Republicans called on Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to cancel the Senate’s October recess and get the body to work on passing appropriations bills before the Nov. 17 deadline.
The Senate is scheduled to take the week of Oct. 9 off as a period for members to do work in their home states.
“While valuable work is done while Senators are back in their home states, it is imperative that we remain in DC until our appropriations work can be completed. That is what the American people expect and deserve of us,” the letter, first reported by The Daily Caller, reads.
Sens. Pete Ricketts (Neb.), John Barrasso (Wy.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (N.C.), John Cornyn (Texas), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), John Thune (S.D.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) signed on to the letter.
Debates over government funding have been loudest in the House, where internal GOP conflicts nearly led to a government shutdown last week. A last-second continuing resolution kept the government funded until Nov. 17, with little changes to the budget.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the 12 appropriations bills in July, though they were not debated on the floor of the Senate. The Republican Senators criticized Schumer for not bringing them to a vote but emphasized that the slow process before the continuing resolution underlines the need to move quickly now.
“The past nine weeks made it clear that we cannot afford to take a weekday off, much less a weeklong recess, with so much work to be completed in such a condensed time,” the letter continues. “This is too important of an issue to put off. We must get back to regular order, and that means passing all 12 appropriations bills.”