WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement after tonight’s Senate vote to reject a continuing resolution to fund the government through February 16^th: 

“For 20 years, Congress hasn’t had a budget on time. Instead, we’ve opted to kick difficult decisions a little bit further down the road through continuing resolutions, leaving important priorities unfinished. This isn’t what our constituents sent us here to do, and we shouldn’t continue taking half-steps on issues that can be resolved in a bipartisan fashion. Nobody wanted to shut the government down, and we didn’t have to – there was enough middle ground between both sides to reach an agreement if only we’d worked together earlier in the process. Moving forward, I am open to a short-term continuing resolution that allows us to finalize the details of a deal, but first we need the framework of that deal. Now is the time for responsible governing; I hope Congressional leadership will rise to the task.”