(DCNF)—Democratic New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim repeatedly dodged CNN’s Jake Tapper’s “simple question” Sunday about how he will vote on the upcoming funding bill as Republicans are pressing to avoid a government shutdown.
Ahead of Congress’ vote on the stopgap bill, also known as the continuing resolution (CR), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson released the bill’s text Saturday, which aims to fund the government through Sept. 30 and avoid a government shutdown by Friday at midnight. While discussing early signs of Democratic opposition, Tapper asked Kim on “State of the Union” whether he would vote “no” if the resolution reaches the Senate floor.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying, Jake. What I’m saying is first and foremost, we need to see what happens in the House. Again, I was in the House of Representatives when Speaker Johnson became Speaker,” Kim said. “He is very bad at legislating, very bad at keeping his caucus together. So I’m not certain what’s going to happen there.”
Kim went on to state that he is hopeful and attempting to “push” for “bipartisan talks,” claiming he knows of Republicans in both the Senate and Congress who have expressed frustration “that Congress’s roles and responsibilities are being whittled away, usurped by President Trump.”
“This is a place where we can reassert and say that ‘Yes, we are the part of the good government, the branch of that’s in control of the appropriations and control of the funds.’ We should reassert that right now,” Kim continued. “That’s what I hope that the Republicans in the House and the Senate agree to. We can restart these bipartisan talks and actually get things done.”
“Right, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. You keep talking about asserting. I’m just saying, if you don’t have a bipartisan bill, will that be a no vote? It’s a pretty simple question,” Tapper responded.
The 99-page CR released by the House GOP seeks to fund the government for the full year while reducing spending below fiscal year 2024 levels. While the bill includes additional funds for programs and agencies like veterans’ healthcare, defense spending and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it will not include additional emergency funding, disaster declarations or policy riders.
In response to Tapper pressing him on his vote, Kim stated his answer would not be simple due to not knowing “what the House is going to do,” before adding that he still believes there’s an opportunity for a bipartisan “push.”
“I can’t tell you how many Republicans in the Senate are frustrated with this process, want to see us actually go forward,” Kim said. “I mean, when we are worried about what’s happening with defense spending, in terms of what’s going to happen with the CR, when it looks like, what we see here is a handing over of the keys to the castle in terms of where the direction of funds go, that’s where Congress’s role is.”
“So, Jake, what I’ll say is, we’ll see what happens with how the House moves forward. But there’s a lot of frustration on the ground in the Senate. I think that there is still an opening for that 30-day extension and for us to actually be able to get a deal going forward,” Kim added. “They’re very close. The negotiators are very close to a top-line deal. I support Senator Murray and others pushing forward for that.”
With House Democrats expected to oppose the CR, President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to unite and back the bill. On Wednesday, Trump met with members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) to gauge their support. Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the HFC, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he’s confident a majority of House Republicans will ultimately support the CR.
The bill is expected to head to the House floor as early as Tuesday.
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