On Monday morning, the Senate advanced a temporary spending bill that would end the government shutdown. A total of 48 Republicans and 33 Democrats voted for the bill, while two Republicans and 16 Democrats voted No.
Among those that voted against the temporary bill were several Presidential hopefuls. Namely, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren.
The reasoning behind the ‘No” vote from the group include concerns about DACA and the DREAM act.
“President Trump and Congressional Republicans said they wanted a DACA solution that would provide relief to the hundreds of thousands of DREAMers who are Americans in every sense of the word except for a piece of paper,” Corey Booker said in a statement on his website prior to Monday’s vote. “There’s a bipartisan solution on the table – it’s supported by Republicans, by Democrats, and by most Americans. But instead of putting that solution forward for a vote, the President and Republican leaders have chosen to use DREAMers as political pawns. I refuse to let that happen.”
California’s Kamala Harris expressed similar concerns via Twitter on Friday:
This shutdown was avoidable. The WH created this crisis & the GOP leaders in Congress refused to negotiate with Democrats. We must pass a bipartisan solution to fund the government, guarantee health care for millions of kids & protect Dreamers. Americans expect & deserve it.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 20, 2018
Sanders commented last week his concerns were over protecting working families:
We asked Republicans to pass a budget that would protect the needs of working families. They preferred to shut down the government instead.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 21, 2018
While today’s vote has passed the Senate, it still needs to be approved by the House before the government can officially reopen.
