Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Semafor that his party is going to play hardball on the Trump administration’s request for more defense spending, aligning with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in her negotiations with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, over government funding.
“They’ve asked for a huge defense increase that a lot of their own members don’t support. So it’s up to them, they’ve got to come to a reasonable top-line agreement — Patty and Susan — on the ratio of defense and non-defense,” Schumer said in a recent interview.
Collins said she’s made multiple offers to Murray that have been rejected, which makes her “question whether they are simply trying to delay action on all of the bills.”
The dynamic is already starting to raise questions about whether there will be yet another government shutdown in October.