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ALBANY After the U.S. House of Representatives approved a stopgap bill to continue to fund the government Tuesday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced Wednesday that she would vote in favor of the bill to avoid a government shutdown.

Speaking during a virtual press conference Wednesday morning, Gillibrand criticized the chaos in the Republican-controlled House.

The plan devised by House Speaker Mike Johnson, which passed the House yesterday, is not perfect, nor is it something that Democrats would have proposed, the New York Democrat said. In fact, the continued chaos in the Republican-controlled House was a major reason why Moody's lowered the U.S. credit rating from stable to negative, but it allows us to avoid some of the devastating consequences that a shutdown would have.

The stopgap bill put forward by newly-elected speaker temporarily funds some federal agencies, like housing and transportation, until Jan. 19, and others, such as defense spending, until Feb. 2.

Notably, the bill does not include any cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, as proposed by House Republicans, nor any aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Anyone who has heard the horror stories coming out of the Middle East and Ukraine right now knows that time is of the essence, Gillibrand said. At a time when Russia, Iran and China are actively colluding against American interests, it is critical that we deliver the necessary resources to protect our national security and the security of our allies.

In reaction to the removal of the funding for Israel and Ukraine, Gov. Kathy Hochul urged federal lawmakers to approve President Joe Bidens supplemental funding request for the aid.

New Yorkers feel the urgency of this moment: with the largest Jewish and Ukrainian populations in America, my constituents are eager to see additional security support. And as the site of major flooding as well as the epicenter of the migrant and asylum seeker crisis, New York urgently needs federal dollars to support our emergency efforts here at home, Hochul said in a statement. "I know our Senators and our Democratic Members of Congress are working to support President Biden's efforts but bipartisan action is needed to accomplish these critical goals.

Gillibrand said she is still optimistic a bipartisan deal can be reached to fund both.

One of the things that the House Republicans want is a border security bill and immigration reform bill, she said. So, the challenge is to see if that can be negotiated, but I believe if the House do get a border security bill, they will give us a Ukraine bill.

The U.S. Senate is poised to pass the bill by the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown Friday. Both U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have said they will vote in favor of the stopgap bill. Gillibrand said they expect to vote on the bill on Thursday.

Gillibrand once again criticized the chaos among House Republicans for the competing interests among their conference that has disrupted negotiations over a funding bill.

It's one of the reasons why I'm actually working to raise money and to create a coordinated campaign in New York so we can win those five House seats back, Gillibrand said. Those new Republican members have not led. They have not gotten anything done on immigration. They've gotten nothing done on SALT. They've gotten nothing done on just keeping the government running properly. So, I think those are real issues that will be brought to the voters about the lack of function and a lack of leadership in the House right now."

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to vote in favor of stopgap funding bill to ... - The Daily Gazette