Tom Cole: “I want to commend the President for making it crystal clear... we are going to have to have a deal that is better for…”

I hold the Democrats in the Senate most responsible, but I don’t excuse the Republicans for letting them do it.

We want to take away the possibility of a shutdown between now and the election.

The only reason we’re doing it now is, first, the Senate Democrats, I think, have misused the filibuster, and honestly, the Republicans have let them misuse the filibuster.

Our conference refuses to let the obstruction and inaction of Senate Democrats trigger another manufactured shutdown at the end of September. That is why we are acting before a funding lapse crisis, not in response to it.