Coburn Favors Advancing Spending Bill To ‘Get This Off Our Plate’
Sen. Tom Coburn Will Vote to Advance Spending Bill and ‘Get This Off Our Plate’
by Chris Casteel
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who has been saying for two months that the tea party strategy to defund Obamacare won’t work, said in an interview with The Oklahoman this morning that he will vote on Wednesday to advance the must-pass spending bill to keep the process moving and avoid a government shutdown.
“The whole thing is a farce,” Coburn said.
Senators who vote against advancing the bill Wednesday, he said, “are going to filibuster a bill that does exactly what they wanted it to do.”
Coburn was referring to the House spending bill that will keep government funded through Dec. 15 while denying money to the health care law known as Obamacare.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-TX, and Mike Lee, R-UT, urged House Republicans to attach the Obamacare language to a must-pass spending bill. The House GOP did that last week and sent the Senate the bill Cruz and Lee wanted.