Ryan to Schumer: Don’t shut down the government

Speaker Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanGOP leaders pitch children's health funding in plan to avert shutdown Lawmakers see shutdown’s odds rising Fix what we’ve got and make Medicare right this year MORE (R-Wis.) delivered a stern warning to Senate Minority Leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerDemocrats will need to explain if they shut government down over illegal immigration White House: Trump remarks didn't derail shutdown talks Schumer defends Durbin after GOP senator questions account of Trump meeting MORE (D-N.Y.) and his fellow Senate Democrats on Thursday night, minutes after the House voted to avert a government shutdown.

“Sen. Schumer, do not shut down the federal government. Do not jeopardize funding for our military and for our national security. Do not jeopardize funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” Ryan told reporters after the successful House vote.

“It is risky. It is reckless. And it is wrong," he continued.

“I ask the American people to understand this: The only people standing in the way of keeping the government open are Senate Democrats," Ryan said. “Whether there is a government shutdown or not is now entirely up to them.”

The Senate was expected to hold a procedural vote later Thursday night on the House-passed, one-month stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution.

But Senate Democrats and three Republicans have vowed to filibuster that funding bill, increasing the possibility of a government shutdown Friday night at midnight.

Senate Democrats say they won’t help fund the government until they get a deal to shield hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.

Many of these immigrants are recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which President TrumpDonald John TrumpDems flip Wisconsin state Senate seat Sessions: 'We should be like Canada' in how we take in immigrants GOP rep: 'Sheet metal and garbage' everywhere in Haiti MORE has decided to end on March 5.

Democrats “are just holding this critical funding hostage for a deal on a completely unrelated immigration issue,” Ryan said. “Yes, we need to address the DACA program, and we are engaged in good-faith negotiations as we speak.

“But that deadline is weeks away.”