Tuberville supports giving President Trump some influence on the current year's budget

December 11, 2024 – WASHINGTON. D.C. – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) told reporters that he wants, "To do what is best for President Trump" in the ongoing budget negotiations.

Presently the government is operating on an 80-day continuing resolution (C.R.) that kept the government funded to just before Christmas. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) chose not to bring up the budget bills prior to the election so that the budget would be in place on October 1 – as the law requires. Because Congress opted out of passing a normal budget there is the possibility of a partial government shutdown before the end of the calendar year.

The Alabama Gazette asked Senator Tuberville if he preferred passing a budget that President Biden would sign or just doing a short-term C.R. so that President-elect Donald J. Trump (R) will have some influence over the current fiscal year budget rather than having to operate under Joe Biden's budget for the first 250 days if his presidency.

"At the end of the day, President Trump needs to have the say so about the budget coming up," said Sen. Tuberville. "He is the President-elect. He will take over in 40 days. I know there is a lot of talk behind the scenes. We have been involved in some of that here in the Senate. Doing a C.R. - continuing resolution - continuing on the current budget for the first couple of months for President Trump to give him an opportunity to get adjusted to that."

Tuberville also raised the possibility of a partial government shutdown.

"There are also a lot of people up here saying let's don't do a CR; just shut the government down for a week or two and let President Trump have it after that point," explained Tuberville. "There is several ways to do this. Nobody would lose a paycheck if you shut the government down around Christmas time; but I want to do what is best for President Trump. The American people voted him in. Let's give him an opportunity whatever he want to do. I know that he is involved with Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, and John Thune, now the leader of our Senate. They are talking and working behind the scenes to make sure that we do the right thing for the American people."

President Biden has added $7.29 trillion to the national debt – just through November 1 despite full employment and a growing economy.

"Our country is in trouble: we are broke," stated Tuberville. "We have to make sure that we spend what the taxpayers send up here. We don't need to continue to get in debt. I am for whatever is best for the American people and give President Trump an opportunity to get things under control for the future of our country."

Congress remains in session while the parties attempt to craft a compromise to avoid a partial shutdown. It is not know yet whether they will extend the current budget for 60 days or 90 days or just pass a FY 2025 budget or even if they can avoid a shutdown. Trump will take over the White House on January 20; but Republicans will take over the U.S. Senate in less than three weeks. If no budget deal is passed, Republicans could potentially pass their own budget without Democratic votes as early as January 2; but Biden is likely to veto a Republican budget.

Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com