SE North Carolina News

Washington, D.C. — In a joint effort, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and 12 other senators have penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), calling for the U.S. Senate to stay in session until all 12 fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills are debated, passed, and signed into law by President Biden.

The letter, led by Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), emphasizes the importance of completing the appropriations work without delay. The 13 signatories include Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Barrasso (R-WY), Katie Boyd Britt (R-AL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Rick Scott (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), John Thune (R-SD), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Quoting Senator Ted Budd (R-NC):

"We urge you to modify the Senate calendar so that we remain in session Monday through Friday every week until all 12 fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills are passed in the Senate and House and signed into law by President Biden. The House of Representatives has already taken the step to forgo their October recess and the Senate must follow suit. While valuable work is done while Senators are back in their home states, it is imperative that we remain in DC until our appropriations work can be completed. That is what the American people expect and deserve of us."

The Senate Appropriations Committee successfully passed all 12 appropriations bills through Committee in June and July. However, during the following two months, the Senate failed to debate, amend, and pass the final versions before the September 30th deadline. Instead, the Senate recessed for five of the nine weeks without passing a single appropriations bill. The resulting continuing resolution extended government funding until November 17th, leaving seven weeks for the Senate to consider the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills.

Quoting Senator Ted Budd (R-NC):

"This is too important of an issue to put off. We must get back to regular order, and that means passing all 12 appropriations bills. We the undersigned request that you update the Senate calendar so that we are in session every weekday until all 12 appropriations bills are passed."

For more information, please read the full text of the letter.