Pelosi’s Claim on Republicans’ Funding Resolution

On Wednesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not provide evidence to back her assertion that the Republican-funded continuing resolution (CR) for the government is not “clean.”

Democrats have consistently argued that Republicans did not enact a “clean CR,” which typically means a straightforward spending bill to maintain current funding levels. While appearing on “Inside Politics,” Pelosi failed to clarify why she believes the bill doesn’t meet the criteria for a “clean CR.”

“First of all, this is not a clean CR,” she stated, posing a question to CNN host Dana Bash about its lack of cleanliness. “There’s no reason to delve into it. The main point is, Democrats created Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and now they’re being asked to reject these in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy.” She emphasized, “We’re not doing that. This isn’t about coming together to discuss; that won’t happen. They had their opportunity. Currently, we will only consider opening the government under those conditions.”

In contrast to the Democrats’ view, the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a bipartisan group, claimed that the resolution is as close to a clean CR as one can get. According to the New York Times, Democrats opposed the CR because it did not extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies established during Biden’s presidency, which they believe is contributing to the ongoing shutdown.

Prior estimates from the Congressional Budget Office projected that a permanent continuation of these tax credits could increase the budget deficit by $350 billion from 2026 to 2035.

The only senators who supported reopening the government included Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada, and independent Senator Angus King from Maine, who usually aligns with Democrats. Fetterman remarked that voting was a point of contention with his party, conveying that the shutdown was “a sad day for our country.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had backed the same CR earlier in March, asserting on the Senate floor his commitment to preventing a government shutdown. Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Schumer for yielding to the far left of his party, suggesting that he was wary of a potential primary challenge from Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez, however, did not confirm to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes whether she had considered challenging Schumer in the upcoming primary.