Ayotte Votes to Prevent Government Shutdown

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) today joined members of both parties in supporting a key procedural motion - known as "invoking cloture" - to prevent a stalemate in the Senate that would have led to a government shutdown. Senator Ayotte restated her strong commitment to defunding, repealing and replacing Obamacare, but said that shutting down the government is not an effective strategy that will successfully stop the law.

She opposed an amendment introduced by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to add Obamacare funding into the House-passed spending legislation (frequently referred to as the "continuing resolution.") The final version of the continuing resolution that Democrats passed today breaks the law and exceeds by $20 billion the spending limits enacted two years ago. Senator Ayotte reiterated her strong commitment to avoiding a government shutdown and keeping the government running, and she called on the House to move quickly to resolve these issues:

Senator Ayotte released the following statement regarding her votes:

"Although I fully support defunding, repealing and replacing Obamacare, I voted for cloture - to move forward with the House bill - because I do not believe shutting down the government is an effective strategy, it simply won't work. Obamacare would keep going and we would harm the nation.

"It is unfortunate that the continuing resolution that was passed today by the Senate Democrats breaks the law and exceeds by $20 billion the spending limits enacted two years ago. This is no way to run a government, with short-term spending bills rather than a fiscally responsible budget for the nation. With over $17 trillion in debt, we must find a way to fund worthy priorities without busting the budget, and I will continue my efforts to do so. As this bill returns to the House, I hope we can resolve these issues and keep the government running."

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