WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats yesterday blasted Republicans for daring to offer any immediate spending cuts and refused to budge from their no-cuts-now stance in a budget fight that seems headed toward a March 4 government shutdown.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she didn’t trust the new proposal from House Republicans to cut $4 billion over two weeks to extend the deadline.
“This ‘new’ proposal is nothing more than a Trojan horse for the extreme and reckless legislation [for deeper cuts],” said Murray, the No. 4 Democrat in the Senate. “It would pull the rug out from our economic recovery and devastate millions of families and small-business owners across the country.”
The Republican-led House is expected to vote on the $4 billion in cuts when Congress returns from its Presidents Day break next week, sending it to the Senate just days before the shutdown deadline.
The Democrats want a stopgap spending bill with no cuts while they negotiate funding for the rest of the current fiscal year.
The Republicans demand cuts in any new spending bills and call $2 billion a week “reasonable,” considering the record $1.6 trillion deficit and $14 trillion national debt.