Free Republic

Senate Democrats Wednesday blocked debate on the almost $700 billion Pentagon budget and other spending bills amid a feud between the chamber’s leaders over the rules of engagement for translating this summer’s hard-won budget deal into binding legislation. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer orchestrated the party-line filibuster vote, claiming Senate GOP leaders were doing President Donald Trump’s bidding on the U.S.-Mexico border fence and paying for it by shortchanging health and education programs. Both sides accused the other of violating the bipartisan spirit of July’s budget blueprint, which gave Trump a must-have increase in the government’s borrowing limit and new spending...