Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks in Toronto, Canada, on October 30, 2017. (Photo: Broadbent Institute / Institut Broadbent)
As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell adjourned the Senate late Thursday night to prevent a vote on a House spending bill and with President Donald Trump prepared for a mid-day departure for another weekend spent at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida, the Republican Party — try as they might and because they control the White House and Congress — is having a difficult time trying to pin the blame for a looming government shut down on the Democrats.
While many parsed the blame-game metrics and potential fallout, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argued it this way:
When Republicans control the Senate, House and White House, and they blame Democrats for the shutdown, I don’t think anybody is going to take that seriously.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 19, 2018
During a floor speech on Thursday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) made a similar argument as she blasted the GOP for making a “mockery” of the country’s legislative process. “We’re back again for the third short-term spending bill of this fiscal year,” Jayapal lamented. “This is no way to govern.”
The Republican majority is making a mockery of our legislative process. We’re back again for the third short-term spending bill of this fiscal year.
This is no way to govern. Americans deserve #ABetterDeal. pic.twitter.com/gEhu3wXWjB
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 18, 2018
Reporting by Politico painted the US Senate as a chamber in “disarray” where prospects looked “grim” for avoiding a shutdown:
After the GOP House passed a partisan month-long spending bill Thursday, senators in both parties appeared increasingly dug in. A spat on the Senate floor between [McConnell] and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer culminated in the chamber adjourning with no clear path to avoid a shutdown in barely 24 hours.
No vote is scheduled, and the two party leaders spent the night sniping over who’s to…