Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Senators Mullin and Lee Say Senate Leadership Is Holding Up Funding Deal as Shutdown Looms
Summary
U.S. Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) blamed Senate leadership for blocking a spending deal and warned a shutdown could shift authority over federal operations and payroll timing to the president, while disputing who would receive new subsidies or benefits.
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told a television interviewer that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is responsible for delaying a funding deal and that the impasse could lead to a government shutdown that shifts operational authority to the White House and forces difficult payroll and staffing decisions.
The senators framed the debate as a dispute over language in spending measures and immigration-related benefits. "Schumer's holding it up," Mullin said. "When we say Schumer shutdown, it's a 100% Schumer shutdown." He said Democratic changes would reinstate eligibility for some subsidies that had been removed in prior legislation and that lawmakers were seeking $1.5 trillion to reopen the government for four weeks — a figure Mullin described as "$600,000,000,000 above our defense budget." He said that level of borrowing would be unacceptable.
Why it matters:…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
