Democrats Promise Payback as Republicans Sidestep the Appropriations Process

Lawmakers from both parties concede that using a party-line process to fund key priorities sidesteps the established process. Democrats say they could do the same if they win back control of Congress.

Chris Van Hollen

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations panel, says Republicans should expect Democrats will follow their lead if they fund priority programs outside the committee process. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Senate Democrats have a warning for their Republican counterparts on Capitol Hill: If you go around the appropriations process and approve funding for parts of the Department of Homeland Security using a party-line budget process, we’ll do the same for our priorities once we’re back in power.

“We’ve warned them about that,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS. “They should be on notice. That is opening the door big-time to doing that.”

“Once you have established a precedent, the other side is going to take a careful look and see if it benefits them,” added Sen. Dick Durbin, another senior appropriator.