The House approved three targeted spending resolutions to the Senate on Wednesday, daring Senate Democrats to vote against measures to immediately fund the District of Columbia, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Park Service.<\/p>\n
The bills are part of the House Republican plan to pass spending bills in areas where there is bipartisan agreement in order to spare some pieces of the government from the shutdown.<\/p>\n
But while Democrats support these priorities, they mostly opposed attempts to pass them in the House. Democrats said Republicans were using the bills as part of a political strategy to mitigate the effects of the shutdown when they should instead pass a Senate spending resolution that funds the entire government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority is making itself clear,\u201d said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). \u201cAny time they see a bad headline, they\u2019re going to bring a bill to the floor to make it go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Republicans pointed to a few other headlines that were playing badly for Democrats on Wednesday.
\nBefore passing a bill to keep national parks and monuments open, Republicans blasted the Obama administration for erecting barricades around the World War II memorial this week, which kept out visiting veterans groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarricades were put up around the World War II memorial,\u201d said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). \u201cAgain, a memorial accessible to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should not be using our national parks\u2026 as hostages for the Democratic \u2018my way or the highway\u2019 shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n