This ‘laddered CR’ proposal is yet another spending bill driven by the extremist, irresponsible House Freedom Caucus, and one that recklessly opens the door to a double whammy shutdown and is intended to hold vital funding hostage to fulfill extreme Republican funding goals.

Washington D.C. – U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) issued the following statement on the flawed House Republican Continuing Resolution proposal that puts our families and economy in jeopardy:

“This ‘laddered CR’ proposal is yet another spending bill driven by the extremist, irresponsible House Freedom Caucus, and one that recklessly opens the door to a double whammy shutdown and is intended to hold vital funding hostage to fulfill extreme Republican funding goals.

This cavalier stopgap bill kicks the serious domestic and international challenges facing our nation into next year. This approach lacks urgency and demonstrates the absence of both understanding and caring about the importance of expediting the completion of our work to avoid leaving our military and American families twisting in the wind. It has no emergency assistance for our allies confronting vicious attacks by terrorists and despots.

It also lacks emergency funds for women and infant nutritional needs, and basically tells Americans that Republicans are fine if road work and repairs are halted, critical Everglades restoration efforts stall, and we turn our backs on commitments we made to servicemembers, veterans, and their families by doubling the likelihood of a government shutdown. This gives Republicans more opportunities to hold critical priorities hostage in exchange for keeping the government open. Worse, as global democracies face violent assaults, this ‘laddered CR’ leaves the departments of State and Defense inadequately resourced until February and potentially longer.

I urge Republicans to work with us to pass a singular, clean Continuing Resolution and work with Democrats on a full-year funding agreement that abides by the budget that they already agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. We must provide vital emergency assistance immediately, before the MAGA Party further jeopardizes American families, democracies and careens our economy over a cliff.”