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Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of trying to thwart ongoing negotiations on a bipartisan infrastructure bill by scheduling a first test vote before the text of the measure is finalized.
“We are not going to proceed with a bill that is unwritten because it just doesn’t make sense,” Graham told Fox News “The Ingraham Angle.”
Earlier Monday, Schumer tabled a motion to proceed with debate on the $ 1.2 trillion package, details of which are still being worked out by a group of senators from both parties. One of the main negotiators, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) accused Schumer of setting an “arbitrary deadline” on Wednesday to complete drafting of the bill.
“Chuck Schumer is trying to explode this effort… Filing closure on a bill that doesn’t exist is insane,” Graham said before pleading with President Biden to “phone Schumer and tell him to step down” .
“Tell him that ‘You are undermining an effort to find common ground on infrastructure regarding roads, bridges and ports,'” he added. “You can tell Schumer to stop. Whether he does or not, I don’t know, but you should at least try to stop them from blowing this up.
Even if the bill passes the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Has said she will not put it to a vote until Schumer imposes a 3-month spending program. $ 500 billion through reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes in the Senate.
“It’s a takeover,” Graham said of the larger measure. “The $ 3.5 trillion democratic infrastructure package has nothing to do with infrastructure. They want to include the amnesty in the infrastructure bill.
The broadest measure would include increased spending on a range of social programs, including expanded medicare, the universal preschool and children’s tax credit. Progressive Democrats are also hoping to include language paving the way for legal permanent residence or citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, a move Graham called “the dumbest idea in Senate history.”
“Imagine if you granted legal status to illegal immigrants without first securing the border,” Graham said. “No proposal that has ever been made in Washington has given legal status until the border is secured for the first time… It will put kerosene on a system that is already broken. If you give someone legal status, there will be a leak at our border like you’ve never seen before.
The senator then repeated his threat to hold a walkout with his GOP colleagues if Democrats tried to force the reconciliation bill.
“I’m going to be leaving town to prevent this,” Graham said. “If we can shut down the Senate when we leave town, we should. “
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