Schumer draws line in government funding fight

• "This is beyond a bait-and-switch — it is a bait and poison-to-kill," Schumer said to Senate Democrats in a "dear colleague" letter Monday. "Senate Republicans must reject this partisan path and instead work with Democrats on a bipartisan appropriations process."
• Trump's rescissions package would claw back money already appropriated by Congress for foreign aid, Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio.
• Congress faces a government funding deadline at the end of September.

The big picture: The White House's rescissions package needs just a simple majority of votes to get through the Senate. But any measure to avoid a shutdown before October will need Democratic support.

• That places significant leverage in the hands of Schumer and Senate Democrats, who want the rescissions package killed or, at least, heavily modified.
• "Senate Republicans face a defining choice with consequences that will be felt far beyond the halls of power," Schumer said in the letter.

Between the lines: Schumer faced intense internal and external backlash earlier this year when he voted with Senate Republicans to avoid a government shutdown in March.

• Schumer reasoned then that a government shutdown was more harmful than passing the GOP-authored short term government funding measure.
• Lawmakers and activists alike said they wanted Schumer to fight harder against Republican rule of the government and saw the looming government shutdown as the Democrats' biggest — and probably only — leverage point in negotiations.
• But other Senate Democrats at the time agreed with Schumer's decision to vote to fund the government, arguing privately it was the right move.

House Republicans passed Trump's rescissions package last month without a single Democratic vote.