Eight days out from the December 11 government shutdown deadline, clean budget advocates are standing united against harmful policy riders that advance ideological agendas rather than fund must-needed programs and services for the American people.
In the House, newly minted Speaker Ryan offered a Republican proposal chock-full of sneaky provisions that help special interests exert outsized influence over the political process. It was swiftly rejected by Democrats and rebuked by the White House.
The White House on Wednesday accused Republicans of threatening a government shutdown by attaching dozens of controversial riders to a must-pass spending bill.
“Congressional Republicans are whistling past the graveyard of a government shutdown,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
Earnest slammed GOP lawmakers for what he said is an effort to “lard the bill up with ideological riders” in order “to compensate for their pretty sorry legislative record thus far this year.”
House Democrats have warned for some time that such ploys are wholly unacceptable.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the appropriations bills approved this year have included deeply divisive policy riders that-if attached to an omnibus spending package-could lead to yet another unnecessary political impasse or even a damaging government shutdown. To avoid these harmful outcomes, we strongly urge you to bring forward legislation to fund the federal government that is free of poison-pill provisions.
Senate Democrats too are outraged at the GOP’s unrelenting prioritization of political gamesmanship in the face of budget catastrophe. Senators Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkley took to the floor Wednesday to decry riders that would gut the sweeping financial reform package that passed in 2010, which included the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
People For the American Way proudly stands with them and is an active member of the nearly 200-strong anti-riders coalition.
We urge Members of Congress and Senators to oppose flawed funding proposals . . . if they come to the floor attached to the omnibus funding package. We further urge the administration in the strongest possible terms to oppose any funding package that includes these or any other dangerous legislative proposals. If included in a final package, any ideological policy riders would undo key safeguards and protections for Main Street.
PFAW is also among women’s health advocates pushing back against riders.
As Congress continues its attacks on Planned Parenthood, which provides critical, high-quality health care services to millions of women, men, and young people, the undersigned organizations write to strongly oppose any consideration in year-end funding legislation of ideological policy riders that are harmful to women’s health and to support efforts towards a budget deal that stops sequestration and raises the spending caps that continue to harm women’s health.
Opponents of women’s health have used the appropriations process to undermine women’s access to comprehensive reproductive care, including access to safe and legal abortion. We continue to strongly oppose policy riders that deny insurance coverage of abortion for women enrolled in Medicaid, women who work for the federal government, women who live in the District of Columbia, and others.
Please join us by signing our clean budget petition:
Republicans in Congress have introduced a budget bill jammed with ideological party riders that undermine our rights, our health, and our democracy. These riders could strip funding for women’s health services, environmental protections, campaign finance regulations, and more.
Our budget shouldn’t be used by lawmakers to push extreme agendas and do favors for special interests.