The White House on Friday threw its full support behind a group of Democratic senators who have threatened to shut down the government over a stopgap spending bill that omits a one-year extension of soon-to-expire health benefits for coal miners.
“The fact that we’re even talking about this is an indication of the failure of Republicans to govern,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters.
“These are coal miners who work for decades in treacherous conditions and who earn these benefits,” he continued.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., implored his Democratic colleagues on Friday to “take yes for an answer” and pass the short-term spending bill before current legislation funding the government expires at midnight.
But some Senate Democrats have continued to protest.
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the lead sponsor of the Miners Protection Act, has blasted the current extension, which would keep healthcare benefits for coal miners funded through April and was passed the House on Thursday.
“I’m sorry if they want to go home Friday,” Manchin said of his Senate colleagues while speaking to reporters this week. “That’s not gonna happen. These people are losing everything Dec. 31 for the convenience of us to go home early.”
Schultz said the current extension “only takes care of [coal miners] for a few months [and] we believe that’s not right.” Republicans have a “basic responsibility” to ensure the government remains funded considering they control both congressional chambers, he asserted.
The Office of Management and Budget has already reached out to federal agencies to discuss what to do in the event lawmakers are unable to reach an agreement and the government partially shuts down late Friday evening, Schultz told reporters.
