Senate Dems get dressed down on CNN for failing ‘test’ not to ‘blink’ and ‘caving’ to MAGA
Hamza Adam 
Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, gave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Senate Democrats a dressing down on CNN for voting in favor of a GOP stopgap funding bill that would avert a government shutdown.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Balint, bluntly, “Why are so many House Democrats mad at Chuck Schumer?”
Balint laughed and replied, “People feel like this was a moment that was a test for all of our leadership. And not to blink. And not to cave.”
Balint said the GOP’s continuing resolution is “not clean” and “allows Trump and Musk to continue to wreak havoc on Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, it gives them a blank check to be mucking around on things they shouldn’t have their hands in and try to claw back money that we as Congress have already dedicated.”
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The Vermont lawmaker said House Democrats felt Schumer was “not communicating well” with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). While House Democrats held “tough votes” and unified as a “show of strength,” she said, “what we saw from Leader Schumer was disorganization on his part.”
When asked to elaborate on her criticisms of the bill, Balint said the bill allows leeway for the GOP to avoid fully funding things such as the PACT act, which protects veterans from health concerns due to toxic burn pits. It also puts Democratic-led litigation against the Trump administration at risk.
“We have to legislate, we have to litigate and we have to agitate,” she declared. “That’s what we’re trying to do here. That’s what the American people want us to do.”
Balint said there’s “no way” the GOP can get to their ambitious spending cuts without going after Medicaid, without going after food programs. They constantly keep it vague so they can pretend that they don’t know what is really going on here.”
“They’re not being honest with their voters,” she insisted.
Balint said Democrats can’t continue to do their jobs “as if this is 1980.”
“We have to be willing to throw some punches and some elbows and to stand firm in what we know is right,” she said.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
