A Senate Democrat said his colleagues are not going to shut down the government despite continuous attempts from President Trump and his administration to blame tensions on them.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said on CNN Thursday his party is not going to be responsible for a partial shutdown of the government if no spending deal is reached by Friday night. The government will go into a partial shutdown at midnight under the current agreement.
Trump and members of his administration have sought to put the pre-emptive blame on Democrats for trying to shut down the government, first over reluctance to pay for the southern border wall and now on Affordable Care Act payments to insurers and funding for Puerto Rico. Cardin rejected that suggestion.
“Democrats will not shut down government,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re going to get this resolved. We should have had a budget well before now and we’re prepared to work with Republicans in order to fund government.”
Instead, the blame should be put on Republicans, particularly in the House, Cardin said.
“Democrats are there, we want to work with Republicans,” he said. “It’s the Republicans, particularly in the House, that chose not to engage the Democrats at all.”
