The fight over the short-term spending bill continues to grow as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) warned that his party will vote against the GOP bill if it doesn’t include funding for Flint, MI. He said:
“Democrats have been clear that Congress should not leave Flint and other lead-tainted communities out of any (stopgap spending) negotiation that includes emergency disaster funding,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other top Democrats in a Tuesday morning letter to McConnell. “Our request is simple: include both bipartisan disaster relief packages for consideration in the CR. We urge you to include bipartisan Flint legislation in the CR.”
Flint has remained on the radar since the town’s water contamination stormed into the headlines. However, President Barack Obama recently drank a glass of water in the town to show an end to the crisis and urged people to use the free filters given to them.
But the federal government still wants to do more and Reid claims the GOP have made a “manufactured crisis” right before the vote, which occurs on Friday:
“Would it be asking too much for the Speaker of the House … [and] the Republican leader of the Senate to stand and say we’re going to get that thing done, we’re going to pass it?” he asked.
The Senate will vote on its spending bill on Tuesday. Reid has two GOP senators on his side to vote against the bill, which means Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) needs “at least eight Democrats to support moving forward with the bill.”
If the Democrats decide to filibuster the spending bill, McConnell could remove the $500 million in aid to the victims in Louisiana due to massive floods.
The GOP senators also said they will deal with the Flint crisis in a separate bill:
Republicans say the Flint issue will be handled in a separate measure to authorize water development projects. That measure — without Flint money — is set for a House floor debate Tuesday, but Republicans are telegraphing it will be included in any final measure handled in a post-election session.”We are going to deal with Flint,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
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