Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejoiced on the Senate floor Wednesday with a “Hallelujah!” at the idea of breaking the budget caps set by Congress a few years ago.
Reid was reacting to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who predicted in mid-September that Democrats would continue to block the GOP’s proposed spending bills, and that Congress would therefore “inevitably” have to negotiate with Democrats on a deal that would likely break the budget caps.
Reid indicated he was satisfied with that outcome, and said that under McConnell’s leadership, “We’ve gotten nothing done.”
“The country is out of money in just a few hours. Why do we wait until the last minute, and then we only provide enough money to get us to the first part of December?” Reid asked. Moments earlier, the Senate passed a temporary spending bill to keep the government fully funded through mid-December.
Reid said the original purpose of the sequester was to force both sides to negotiate on a spending deal. “That should be easy to do,” said Reid.
Democrats “hate sequestration, and I know a significant amount of Republicans don’t like it” either, like Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“So let’s get rid of it, for the good of the country!” said Reid. “This is a so-called no-brainer.”
Reid asked Republicans to repeal the sequester caps and work on a “long-term bipartisan funding bill” so that Congress can turn its attention to other important matters, “like the debt ceiling.”
“I don’t know the exact date when we’re going to run out of money, but I’m sure it’s going to be soon,” the Democrat leader added.
