House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said Saturday that Senate Democrats were engaging in "temper tantrums" with their efforts in shutting down the government, condemning the shutdown as a "grave situation."
The government shut down at midnight Saturday when the Senate failed to pass the spending bill already passed in the House to fund the government through Feb. 16.
"The nation finds itself in a grave situation," McCarthy said. "Our government has shut down. Military men and women in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and around the world are still risking their lives for our country, and they’re not being paid. Opioid treatment centers have had their funds cut off. Children in states across America will start losing their health insurance."
Republicans are calling this impasse the "Schumer Shutdown," named after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) for leading a majority of his caucus to vote against the short-term spending bill to keep the government open.
Although the bill funded the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years, almost all Senate Democrats voted the bill down due to its failing to address the fate of the "Dreamers," the young immigrants brought to the country illegally who were originally shielded from deportation by President Barack Obama's DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) executive order.
President Donald Trump rescinded DACA in September and gave Congress until March to find a legal solution, leading Republicans to wonder why Democrats were insisting on attaching DACA to this spending bill when the deadline isn't for more than a month.
While Democrats have pointed to Republicans holding control of the White House and both houses of Congress as reason enough to blame them for the shutdown, McCarthy noted 60 votes were needed Friday night to overcome a filibuster on the spending bill, and all but five Democrats voted it down. Republicans hold a slim majority with 51 votes, and although all but four of them voted yes, it wasn't nearly enough to stop the shutdown.
"The American people don’t want to see temper tantrums," McCarthy said. "They don’t want to see anyone stomping their feet, demanding they get their way. That’s not just an embarrassment. It has profound consequences for good people across this country."
McCarthy echoed the White House in saying there would be no negotiation while the Democrats kept the government shut down.
"This is too important. History is watching," he said. "History will not be kind to those that put themselves above the American people."