Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday said she would support taking up House-passed legislation that would reopen shuttered federal departments, saying government shutdowns are “never good policy.”
“I can’t speak for Sen. McConnell, but I would like to see him bring the House-passed bills to the Senate floor,” Mrs. Collins, Maine Republican, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We could re-open much of government where there’s no dispute over issues involving certain departments like [agriculture], transportation, housing, interior — let’s get those re-opened while the negotiations continue.”
The new Democrat-led House passed legislation last week that would provide full-year money for eight of nine federal departments that have faced a funding lapse of more than two weeks, and extend current-year funding for the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 8.
The White House has rejected the package, saying it falls short on border security, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he won’t bring up legislation the president won’t sign.
“To be fair to Sen. McConnell, the fact is that unless Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi agree and the president agrees to sign a bill, we can pass bills but they won’t become” law, Mrs. Collins said.
Mrs. Collins said one possible compromise could be to fund border security at $2.5 billion — in between the more than $5 billion President Trump is demanding and the $1.3 billion Democrats say he should accept — and provide a pathway to citizenship for young illegal immigrant “Dreamers.”
Before Democrats officially took the majority, the GOP-led House also passed legislation last month to re-open the government and provide the president the money he’s seeking for the border wall.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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