WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement after today’s Senate vote to pass a three week continuing resolution and reopen the federal government:

“After a weekend spent trying to bring together Senators from across the political spectrum and to create a meaningful dialogue, we have arrived at a viable compromise that can move us forward. A three-week continuing resolution is longer than I’d like, but it appears this weekend’s negotiations have created a path forward which will allow the Senate to function as it should. As I have said, and continue to believe, this government cannot simply function one month at a time – we need to pass a budget. At the same time, we need to stay open. I hope that Senate leadership has gotten the message that we can no longer govern from CR to CR, and that this agreement ends the logjam on DACA and paves the path towards regular order.”

Senator King has been a strong opponent of Congress’s repeated use of continuing resolutions, calling the tactic a “slow-motion shutdown” that impairs our national defense and leaves important priorities undone. Throughout the weekend, he practiced “shuttle diplomacy” as part of a bipartisan working group of moderate senators, meeting with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build consensus for a plan that would reopen the government and put Congress on the path to regular order in the budget process.