McConnell: Dems making the Senate look bad

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) scolded Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, arguing they were “making the Senate look bad” by holding up action on spending bills.

McConnell made the comments during a committee markup that highlighted the deep divisions over spending.

{mosads}The GOP leader is upset over Democrats’ pledge to block GOP spending bills from reaching the floor until Republicans agree to lift spending ceilings known as the sequester.

“When does this ever stop? Huh? When does it ever stop?” McConnell asked Democrats. “The only way to stop this is for you to insist that we start functioning again.”

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said Democrats are just trying to speed up the process so that Congress doesn’t face another shutdown in the fall or around the holidays.

“Should we start this conversation about our appropriations bills on June 18 or wait until Sept. 28 or Dec. 23?” Durbin asked. “I think history will show that if we start this conversation in June, we could come to a productive result.”

Congress must pass new spending measures by Oct. 1.

The debate comes after top Senate Democrats sent a letter to McConnell and other top Republicans Thursday morning demanding that a round of budget negotiations be scheduled for next week.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Durbin signed the letter.

When the Democrats proposed the idea of a budget summit last week, McConnell rejected it.

So far, the House has passed six of a dozen annual spending bills, and the Senate has passed none.

The White House insists it has already done its part by pitching a budget to Congress in February that laid out a plan for lifting sequestration next year.

But McConnell on Thursday said the White House should be more involved.

“Back when we used to function around here, at that point, typically, the president’s chief of staff or somebody from the White House would come up while the conference was meeting and actually begin the discussion before there was an actual veto,” he said.