Last week, I addressed the completely avoidable disaster that struck Washington. It’s now been 10 days since congressional Democrats voted to shut down the federal government.
Since September 30th, the Senate has voted seven times on a clean funding resolution passed by the House — this is a straightforward, short-term bill that funds the government at current levels without adding poison pills or partisan policies. This would give Congress time to finish the full-year funding bills responsibly. But Democrats have rejected it seven times.
As I mentioned last week, Democrats are still pushing for over $1 trillion in new spending and to recklessly eliminate the $50 billion Rural Hospital Stabilization Fund. Why in the world are Democrats set on eliminating this crucial fund for our nation’s rural hospitals? It’s unthinkable.
Here’s the truth: Democrats’ proposal to reopen the government is packed with unrelated items. This includes COVID-era bonus payments, overseas climate resilience projects, and taxpayer-funded health care for non-citizens. That’s not responsible governing, and it’s not fair to American families.
Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer’s latest take on the government shutdown is this: “every day gets better for us.” That is a direct quote from the Democratic Leader in the Senate – and by “us” he means the Democrat party. If the Democrats think it’s better that our troops aren’t paid and that it’s better when people are worried about being furloughed, then that just shows they are tone deaf to the uncertainty and stress people are feeling across America. They are only interested in the political show.
This shutdown is hurting people. Farmers are losing access to federal support at a time when the farm economy is already strained. Construction projects that rely on federal funds are stalling. Air traffic controllers and federal employees face uncertainty about their paychecks. And by next week, our troops could miss a paycheck. None of this is necessary.
And let’s be clear: A short-term funding bill is not the place for sweeping policy changes. If this continues, deeper cuts to essential services may follow — and that’s entirely preventable.
Remember, the House sent us a clean CR without any new policies. It simply continues current funding until November 21st. Then we will take up appropriations bills that have strong bipartisan support already negotiated within and passed by the Appropriations Committee.
As a member of that committee, I am deeply committed to a transparent process. One where senators debate, amend, and vote on each bill individually – before the end of the fiscal year. All we’re asking is to reopen the government so we can continue this funding process. Leader Thune promised we would take the bills up – we have already passed three of them. Let’s show the American people bipartisanship and transparency and continue this important work.
Republicans’ goal is simple: reopen the government now, support our military and families, and return to regular order.
At the end of the day, Americans deserve a functioning government, not political theater. If just a handful of Senate Democrats join Republicans, we can end this shutdown. I hope when we next vote to reopen the government, my Democratic colleagues will join us in doing the right thing for the American people.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.