Washington – Tonight the Senate passed a Trump-backed seven-month continuing resolutions spending bill after Minority Leader Charles Schumer bowed to Republican pressure and provided the Democratic votes necessary for passage. With one exception, the entire House Democratic caucus had united earlier in the week to reject the harmful spending bill, and a large majority of Schumer’s own Democratic caucus in the Senate rejected it as well. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter issued the following statement:

“Any minority leader who is thanked by Trump for facilitating his agenda has no business being in that position. In handing over the votes necessary for this terrible spending bill to become law, Senator Schumer has capitulated to Trump, Musk and all the Republicans in Congress hell-bent on attacking our Constitution and dismantling the federal government. Schumer has lost the faith and confidence of a critical mass of well-meaning people around the country. He must step down from his leadership role in the Senate now, so a sufficiently determined resistance to the disastrous Trump-Musk agenda can be allowed to rise up and act before it’s too late.”

Notably, the Republican spending measure eliminates Congressionally-directed spending for clean water projects. It zeros out the $1.4 billion in earmarked funding through the EPA’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs, and $117 million through USDA’s Rural Water and Waste Disposal assistance program. While the overall funding levels for the SRF programs are unaffected, he rural water program is reduced by the amount of the earmarked projects, amounting to a 20 percent cut in funding for rural water and wastewater projects. 

The proposal will cut USDA’s Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations by 58 percent by zeroing out $20 million in earmarked projects, and it eliminates $39 million in EPA’s State and Tribal Assistance Grants that were previously earmarked for remediation and environmental management activities. It would also cut USDA’s Conservation by $19 million and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) by $14 million.