Chuck Schumer Slams Trump's 'Poison Pill' Efforts As Congressional Leaders Agree On Temporary Funding Deal: 'Clearly He Doesn't Care'

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has criticized former President Donald Trump for spending a month encouraging the House GOP to shut down the government.

What Happened: On Monday, Schumer took to X to express his views on the ongoing negotiations for a stopgap funding deal. He criticized Trump’s urging of House Republicans to force a government shutdown if Voter ID proposals, supported by him, were not accepted.

Schumer’s post read, “Remember: Trump has spent the month urging House Republicans to shut the government down if his poison pills weren't passed. It's outlandishly cynical.”

Remember: Trump has spent the month urging House Republicans to shut the government down if his poison pills weren't passed.

It's outlandishly cynical.

He knows a shutdown would mean chaos and pain and needless heartache for the American people.

But clearly he doesn't care.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 23, 2024

He called the ex-president’s position “outlandishly cynical.”

“He knows a shutdown would mean chaos and pain and needless heartache for the American people,” said Schumer — adding, “But clearly he doesn't care.”

This comes in the wake of a significant development in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) funding bill was defeated by a group of House Republicans. The bill's failure complicated efforts to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

However, on Monday, Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan agreement on a short-term spending bill to fund federal agencies through mid-December, avoiding a government shutdown as the new fiscal year began. The bill includes $231 million for the Secret Service following assassination attempts on Trump. Final spending decisions were pushed until after the November elections, reported AP News.

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Why It Matters: Schumer’s comments echoed his previous warning that if a government shutdown occured due to "Republican poison pills," the American public would hold them accountable. His post read, "If a shutdown happens because of Republican poison pills, the American people are going to hold them responsible. We don’t need to go down this road."

House GOP leaders had proposed a three-month plan to keep the government funded, following the failure of Speaker Johnson's initial plan due to Republican opposition. The resolution, which maintains current funding levels until December 20, sets the stage for a holiday funding battle. The three-month timeframe is a reduction from Johnson's initial six-month proposal and notably omits a Trump-endorsed measure requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

Johnson had warned Republicans against a shutdown, stating in a "Dear Colleague" letter, "As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice."

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal