Kaine Statement on House-Passed Government Funding Bills

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) released the following statement regarding the appropriations bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday:

"If the Senate were to vote on these appropriations bills individually, I would support some of them. But the House is bundling six bills into a single package a week before a budget deadline and skipping town to try and jam senators into a single up or down vote.

"Appropriations bills shouldn't just fund priorities; they should also place restraints on a runaway executive. Where are the funding restrictions to stop the President from unilaterally taking our sons and daughters into illegal wars, even endless wars, even wars against allies? Or to block deploying our troops against American citizens, as he has done and is threatening to do again? Or to impose effective safeguards against ICE operations that inflame tensions within our cities, terrorize our communities, and make all of us less safe? Or to stop the wholesale firing of federal employees and the unilateral cancellation of congressionally-appropriated dollars? Where are the provisions ensuring that millions of Americans don't lose health insurance? Where are guardrails to stop the President from targeting states, like Virginia, that voted against him during his three presidential campaigns?

"We are not living in normal times. The President is acting chaotically and unlawfully and we shouldn't give his deranged decisions the imprimatur of congressional approval by passing this legislation without significant amendment."

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