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On this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) expressed his concerns about the ongoing negotiations on the federal budget. He stated that House and Senate Republicans were facing significant challenges and confusion in reaching an agreement.
When host Shannon Bream inquired about the potential for a government shutdown as the funding deadline of March 14th approaches, Kaine emphasized his opposition to such measures. He cited his previous statements, acknowledging the detrimental impact shutdowns have on federal employees, government contractors, and millions of Americans who rely on government services.
Kaine criticized President Donald Trump for effectively shutting down government agencies through unauthorized actions, such as proposing to shrink the staff of the USAID to 250 people and suggesting the closure of the Department of Education. He firmly stated that he does not support contemplating a shutdown.
Reconciliation is a big word, but it’s not a complicated process.
The Republican bill in the House should reflect the Executive Orders already passed by @POTUS.
It’s so important that we work through our budget to codify his orders into law so they can’t easily be undone by a… pic.twitter.com/OOSAT5TDIs
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 10, 2025
The senator acknowledged that Republicans currently control all three levers of power – the White House and both houses of Congress – and are responsible for reaching a budget deal. He pointed out that after the November election, they decided to postpone budget negotiations until 2025, when they would have complete control.
Kaine observed a lack of coordination between House Republicans and Senate Republicans, leading to confusion in their efforts to reach a budget agreement. He expressed his belief that tax cuts for the wealthiest would soon follow, as indicated by the actions of the budget committee during the week.
“I never use it as a threat. I don’t like the fact that Donald Trump is shutting government down as we speak. You know, he says I want to shut down the Department of Education, shrink USAID staff down to 250 people. That is a shutdown unauthorized by Congress against the law. I don’t like that and I don’t think we should be contemplating shutdown. Look, the Republicans, as you point out Shannon, they have all three levers. They got the White House and they got both houses. They got to figure out a budget deal. We could have done one last year, but after the November election they said, well let’s wait till 2025 when we have all the levers and we’ll do a budget deal ourselves. So far, you can see there’s a lot of confusion between the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans. We know where this is going. It’s tax cuts for the wealthiest is going to come very, very soon. We saw that in the budget committee this week, but they’re having a hard time getting on the same page.”
Trump budget bill could see 'roughly' $1 trillion in baseline spending cuts, top Republican says https://t.co/negCc0U4h7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 5, 2025
