Tom Cole: “I just look at the numbers and I look at what we are trying to grapple with here.”

The Senate has wasted the entire year and a half. They have not passed a single bill.

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.

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.

For anyone questioning this legislation, the facts are simple — it extends the government funding deadline to Dec. 4, denying any party the opportunity to manufacture leverage before elections.