Schumer Will Vote to Keep the Government Open, Setting Up Passage of GOP Stopgap

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he'll vote to keep the government open as the chamber prepares to take up a GOP stopgap bill

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday he’ll vote to keep the government open as the chamber prepares to take up a GOP stopgap bill continuing government funding.

“I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people,” Schumer said in a statement. “Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open, and not shut it down.”

Schumer’s support for the measure signaled that Democrats would let the measure pass to prevent a shutdown as the caucus grappled Thursday with the uncomfortable choice.

The House is expected to vote Friday on the stopgap funding measure, which would continue government funding at current levels through November 15 and avert a shutdown. The Senate could vote on the bill later Friday.

The bill’s passage would be a setback for Democrats, who are hoping to use a short-term funding bill to secure additional spending for President Biden’s agenda, including climate change initiatives.

However, Republicans have threatened to block any attempt to add new spending items to the stopgal bill, and House Appropriations Chair Robert Ader (R-Calif.) has said that the House will not vote on any bill that does not reflect the 12 individual spending bills that the House has already passed.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the stopgap funding bill on Thursday evening in a voice vote, setting the stage for a vote by the full Senate.

The stopgap funding bill is needed to prevent a partial government shutdown when the current continuing resolution expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, March 14. A shutdown would furlough many federal employees and could disrupt the delivery of government services.

Also in today's news:

* OpenAI on Thursday submitted its proposal for the U.S. government’s coming “AI Action Plan,” highlighting its speed and light regulatory stances, along with suggestions for copyright and cross-border data transfer.

* Among its suggestions, OpenAI called for “a copyright strategy that promotes the freedom to learn” and for “preserving American AI models’ ability to learn from copyrighted material.”

* Earlier this year, President Trump threw out the AI executive order signed by President Biden in October 2023, and issued a new executive order, declared that “it is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.”

* Its comments come ahead of the U.S. government’s planned launch of its own AI Action Plan, which is expected to be unveiled in the spring of 2024.

* Earlier this year, President Trump axed President Biden's executive order on the advancement of critical technologies, which was signed in October 2023, and issued a new executive order, kicking off the formation of the Presidential Critical Technology Council and setting the goal of U.S. leadership in technologies like AI, advanced semiconductors, and gene editing.

* Its comments also come as the Biden administration is preparing to ban new U.S. investment in China in specific technology sectors, as part of a broader effort to decouple the two countries’ economies, Politico reported on Thursday.

The post Pay attention: Schumer confirms vote to keep government funded appeared first on Alpha Street.

Source: Alpha Street