Sen. Schumer to Support Year-end Spending Bill Including Hawaiian Disaster Aid

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday he will back a stopgap bipartisan spending plan to fund the government through the end of the year and provide billions in disaster aid to Hawaii following the deadly wildfires there, The Hill reported.

Schumer said he talked with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right before the August break about a resolution to keep things afloat through the end of the year and avoid a shutdown, something McCarthy confirmed with House Republicans during a call Monday night, the report said.

“I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR in September,” Schumer told reporters, according to The Hill. “A CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills. We urge our House colleagues to emulate the Senate. The only way we’re going to avoid a government shutdown is by bipartisan support in both houses. You cannot keep the government open if you just want to do it with one party. … We hope that House Republicans will realize that any funding resolution has to be bipartisan, or they will risk shutting down the government.”

McCarthy told members on his side that he would like to see the proposed short-term spending bill resolved before the coming holidays, with members trying to sort out appropriation bills after Thanksgiving, the report said.

While it appears Schumer and McCarthy may be willing to unite on a plan, the report said there are still obstacles standing in the way of an agreement, like further funding for the war in Ukraine and money to deal with the crisis at the southern border.

President Joe Biden’s administration is asking for $40 billion in supplemental funding that would include $24 billion more for the Ukraine war effort against Russia.

The report said that 15 House Republicans from Texas said they would vote against any funding that does not include Department of Homeland Security changes to border and immigration policy.

Biden’s request also includes $13 billion in disaster relief for Hawaii after wildfires destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui last week, killing about 100 people, with hundreds more still missing.

Schumer said he pledged assistance to members of the Hawaiian Senate delegation, the report said.

“I committed to them to have the Senate do everything we could to help Hawaii,” he said before delving into the administration’s disaster request. “I am fully supportive of that and will do everything I can to get it passed in the Senate. … Americans can’t fail to answer the call when our fellow Americans are suffering from disaster.”