President Barack Obama “would veto” the House GOP’s proposed bills to fund only popular parts of the government after a shutdown Monday night, the White House vowed Tuesday.
“The President and the Senate have been clear that they won’t accept this kind of game-playing, and if these bills were to come to the President’s desk he would veto them,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage.
House Republican leaders scheduled votes on Tuesday evening to fund programs for military veterans, re-open national parks and museums and provide local funding for the District of Columbia. The votes will be on suspension of regular House rules, which means they’ll require a two-thirds majority to pass.
“These piecemeal efforts are not serious, and they are no way to run a government. If House Republicans are legitimately concerned about the impacts of a shut down — which extend across government from our small businesses to women, children and seniors — they should do their job and pass a clean CR to reopen the government,” Brundage said. “The Senate passed a clean CR that would pass with majority support in the House, and the House Leadership should give it an up or down vote right now. It is time for Congress to do its job.”
Democrats see the strategy as an attempt to fund agencies of government in pieces and eventually omit funding for Obamacare — which has been the GOP’s goal all along.
House Democratic leaders oppose the piecemeal strategy, a leadership aide said.
