Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb issued the following statement after the White House and lawmakers reached a deal to end the federal government shutdown for three weeks until a permanent solution can be reached.
“While it’s encouraging news — and the details are still being worked out — this shutdown should never have happened in the first place,” Kleeb said. “The president’s temper tantrum over his insistence on wasting billions of dollars on a ridiculous wall was reckless, hurt working families, disrupted lives and threatened our safety. The president cannot hope to govern by acting like a two-year-old, and the GOP-controlled Senate — including Sens. Sasse and Fischer — should never have stood for it.”
The Senate on Thursday blocked Trump’s proposal to provide $5.7 billion in border wall money and grant temporary protections for some undocumented immigrants in return for reopening the government.
The bill failed, 50-47, and needed to reach a 60 vote threshold. The Senate also rejected a Democrat-backed bill to fund the government through Feb. 8 that would not provide money for Trump’s border wall. The Senate voted down the bill 52-44, though it approved similar legislation in December.
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