Murray Discusses Government Funding, Disaster Relief Supplemental and Path Forward

***WATCH: SENATOR MURRAY’S REMARKS HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at Senate Democrats’ weekly leadership press conference to discuss the path forward on Fiscal Year 2025 government funding and a disaster relief supplemental.

Senator Murray’s full remarks as delivered are below:

Let’s cut right to the chase —majorities will change hands, but one thing remains the same here in the Senate, is that the appropriations process will be bipartisan.

Here in this chamber, we’ve passed our bills out of committee with overwhelming bipartisan support.

These are bills that are ready to be signed into law—and they could go to the President’s desk today if they had to.

Now, I want to make it clear—it doesn’t matter who the President is, my position has not changed.

As I have said many times over, there is no reason for further delay or to impair government agencies by forcing them to operate on autopilot for months to come.

We should pass bipartisan, full-year spending bills before the end of the year.

Democrats, for our part, have championed priorities in our spending bills that matter to working people.

Whether that’s fighting to lower the cost of child care for parents, working to shorten wait times for seniors who are desperately trying to get their social security benefits, or making sure moms and babies in need don’t go hungry.

Neither chamber will have an overwhelming majority, and these spending bills will be a bipartisan product—just as they always are.

Rest assured; I will be fighting to make certain that our Democratic values—the values of working families in this country—are reflected in the final bills that go to the President’s desk.

I also want to make clear: getting a comprehensive, bipartisan disaster relief package negotiated and passed as soon as possible must be a priority.

So on that note, I want to announce that I will be holding a bipartisan, hearing of the full Senate Appropriations Committee exactly one week from today.

Senators on both sides of my committee will have the opportunity to hear directly from top agency heads.

This is urgent work—the American people must know that in times of disaster, Congress will come together to help every community in every part of this country—no matter what.

I have heard directly from Democrats and Republicans in this chamber about how important this work is.

I expect this to prove true in the Senate and I will be pushing for serious progress on this front every day until we get every community the help they need.

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