Sen. Bernie Sanders, saying it is up to Republicans to stop a government shutdown, called for a bipartisan effort to reach a fair budget agreement.
Sanders, I-Vt., made his comments in a column for The Washington Post.
"I do not know why President (Donald) Trump and the Republican Party — which controls the White House, the Senate and the House — are so willing to shut down the government," he said. "Maybe they think it will be good for them politically.
"Maybe they believe the chaos created by a government shutdown would be a welcome distraction from the ongoing Russia investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Whatever the motives of the Republican leadership, one thing is clear: A government shutdown would be disastrous for the American people."
He maintained a shutdown would hurt tens of millions of families, who would be unable to access vital services and said hundreds of thousands of federal employees would not receive paychecks.
Sanders added: "It would endanger members of the U.S. military who are putting their lives on the line defending our nation.
"Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ratcheted up threats of a government shutdown last week by insisting on ending the long-standing, bipartisan agreement over parity for defense and non-defense spending.
"If we do not act, funding for education, child care, healthcare, nutrition assistance, affordable housing and other important domestic programs will be at a 40-year low as a percentage of our economy."
He said providing parity in the budget negotiations means fully funding the Children's Health Insurance Program for 9 million children. It also means increased funding for both the Social Security Administration and the Veterans' Administration.
And he blasted Trump's insistence on building a wall along the Mexican border.
"Finally, Trump added even more fuel to the fire when he decided to use 800,000 'dreamers' as a bargaining chip for an $18 billion wall that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not want. These dreamers are young people who have lived in this country for almost their entire lives.
"The United States is their home; they know no other. For Trump and the Republican leadership to allow their legal status to expire, and to subject them to deportation, would be one of the cruelest acts in modern American history. It must not be allowed to happen."
Sanders said the U.S. must do more "than provide huge tax breaks to billionaires."
"We must pass a budget agreement that addresses the needs of Americans and not just billionaire campaign contributors," he said.