Heinrich and Luján say they will oppose Republican funding bill

Mar. 13—New Mexico’s Democratic senators are standing firm in their opposition to a Republican bill to keep the government funded through September because they say it would remove guardrails on federal funding and give the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk “unprecedented leeway” to decide what gets funded.

Without a funding bill, the government will shut down at the end of Friday. The Senate could vote on the House’s temporary funding bill, which would keep funding most programs at the same level. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday he will vote for the GOP bill, making it seem likely there will be enough Democratic votes to avert a shutdown.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have already grossly abused their power. Now Republicans want to pass a yearlong continuing resolution that gives Trump and Musk even more tools to harm our communities,” Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján said in a joint statement Thursday. “We want to see the federal government funded and functional, and we have been fighting every day to force this administration to put the chainsaw down when it comes to the health care, education, and VA benefits our communities depend on. But we won’t stand by as Republicans try to shove through this power grab masquerading as a funding bill.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pressured Democrats to fall in line with the Republican funding bill during a speech on the Senate floor Thursday.

“I’m not sure how long the Democrat leader thinks we should drag out the funding process for fiscal year 2025,” Thune said. “Until fiscal year 2026? Beyond?”

All three of New Mexico’s representatives voted with their party Tuesday against the continuing resolution in the House, which passed on a 217-213 vote. Only one House Democrat voted in favor of the resolution, and only one Republican voted against it.

For Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., the Republicans’ continuing resolution not only represents a break from tradition but also an abdication of duty.

“The Republicans who are pushing this are abdicating their responsibility to serve the people, to listen to the people,” Leger Fernández told the Journal.

Leger Fernández said that the Republicans’ funding bill lacks congressional directives for spending and instead creates something closer to a slush fund. She argued that it would allow Republicans to “cut whatever programs they want,” even if those programs are popular with Americans, because the executive branch would have more funding discretion.

“It is Congress’s authority to fund these programs,” Leger Fernández said. “You can’t just fire these people.”