Over a month ago, I took what should have been an ordinary vote to fund our federal government. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have turned the ordinary into a political circus that is hurting everyday Americans, all to appease the most extreme in their party. This cruel partisanship has real consequences for Missourians.
Food stamps for 650,000 Missourians are just days from running dry. Air traffic controllers at Lambert are forced to work without pay. Support programs for infants and toddlers are barely hanging on. Military families are resorting to food pantries to keep their children fed. The Missouri Department of Social Services is recommending our struggling neighbors try to “stretch” their assistance “if possible.” And hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain furloughed. This is the true cost of the longest full government shutdown in American history. And it could all be fixed in a single day if five Democrat Senators decide to do what is right.
On September 19, House Republicans passed a clean, temporary government funding bill, also known as a “continuing resolution” or “CR.” Since then, Democrats have filibustered this bill in the Senate, blocking it from receiving the sixty votes necessary to advance the short-term funding patch. Why? Because Senator Schumer and his fellow Democrats are terrified of their own left-wing base.
This past March, Congress was in almost the exact same situation. House Republicans passed a clean funding bill, and Senator Schumer had a choice to make. On the floor of the Senate, Schumer said, “there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans.” He then led nine Democrats in voting to end the filibuster and fund the government, and his radical left base nearly ousted him for it.
Now, Schumer is harming those same victims he claimed to care about, the most vulnerable Americans, just so he can stay in power. He has concocted a $1.5 trillion wish list of unrelated and unserious liberal policies as his demand. Even worse, as families fear where they may get their next meal, Schumer says, “every day gets better for us.” This is no profile in courage, this is holding the American people hostage for political gain.
Dread of the radical base runs through the entire Senate Democrat Caucus. A recent report detailed the pervasive fearfulness driving Senate Democrats, saying, “people are going to get hammered” if they reopen the government, and that “we would have enough votes if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine.” Senate Democrats even blocked the bill that would ensure our men and women in the military receive a paycheck during the shutdown. Why? To show they’re “fighting” and appease their base.
Democrats claim this shutdown is about health care. Okay, let’s open the government and talk about health care. Democrats want a permanent extension of the COVID-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies to the tune of $350 billion.
In 2021, Democrats created this temporary program, with zero bipartisan support, that allows families making over half-a-million dollars to get taxpayer-subsidized benefits that were originally intended for middle and low-income Americans.
The Democrats, again without bipartisan support, put a deadline on these COVID-era enhanced subsidies for the end of 2025. Now, they have reached their self-imposed deadline, and they claim the sky is falling. The fact of the matter is Obamacare is imploding. Premiums for Obamacare plans have increased 80% since 2014, and rising health care costs are a real concern that needs to be properly dealt with. But the Democrats’ plan to just keep throwing more and more of your taxpayer dollars at the problem does not solve this underlying issue.
Republicans in the House and Senate are open to negotiate on health care reform, but we must open the government first. Because as each day passes, more services become unavailable. More small businesses get hurt. More families aren’t able to close on their new home. More farmers face deeper uncertainty. More vulnerable Americans are harmed.
This is untenable. This is irresponsible. This is dangerous. And it can all be stopped, if five Democrat Senators have the courage to govern.
Representative for Missouri's 2nd Congressional District
