WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement after voting to advance a bipartisan spending bill and avoid another unnecessary government shutdown:

“I am relieved that Congressional negotiators were able to come together to fund the government and avoid another unnecessary shutdown,” said Senator King. “The last shutdown caused immense harm to millions of Americans, including federal workers, federal contractors, and Americans who lost access to vital government services while workers were forced to stay home. I’m grateful that we do not have to travel down that road once more. This is the way governing is supposed to work: bipartisan conversations and compromise aimed to address the issues facing the American people.”

“As to the news that the President is planning to declare a ‘national emergency’ to fund his border wall even as his own Department of Homeland Security reports that illegal border crossings are declining: this is not what the Framers of the Constitution intended when they separated powers between the executive and the Congress, and explicitly assigned spending powers to the Congress. This is antithetical to our American system of government, and I hope and expect that any move by the President to circumvent Congress will be quickly challenged in court.”