WASHINGTON — House Republicans acted responsibly last week to keep the government open with the clean short-term continuing resolution. Senate Democrats, who used to warn that shutdowns would hurt seniors, veterans, and working families, are now threatening to force one unless Congress repeals the Working Families Tax Cut, restores taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens, and sends half a billion dollars to leftist news outlets, among other partisan spending demands — adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt.
Senate Democrats on the perils of government shutdowns in their own words:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
September 16, 2024: “If the government shuts down, it will be average Americans who suffer most. A government shutdown means seniors who rely on Social Security could be thrown into chaos as the Social Security Administration limits certain services, like benefit verifications or fixing errors in payments. Our veterans could see regional VA offices shut down and support services put on halt. Some of our military service members could be forced to work without pay. Families who benefit from WIC and other nutrition programs could see benefits halted. And a shutdown would shake the confidence of our economic recovery, something we can’t possibly afford at a time like this.”
Senator Patty Murray
February 27, 2024: “A shutdown come Saturday would create real issues in the daily lives of the American people: risking air travel delays and passengers’ safety, putting off food safety inspections, denying many Americans the home loans they are counting on, leaving America’s farmers behind, and so much more. A Republican shutdown would be nothing short of a disaster. It costs the American taxpayer dearly and stunts the economy all while severely disrupting the basic functions of government across agencies like the FAA and FDA.”
Senator Bernie Sanders
January 4, 2018: “The truth is that shutting down the government is a serious and dangerous action that we must do everything possible to prevent. Shutting down the government would impact tens of millions of our fellow Americans who would be unable to access government services.”
Senator Raphael Warnock
September 29, 2023: “Senator Warnock believes Washington Republicans need to come together with the rest of Congress to fund the government. Georgia businesses are relying on the federal government to stay open and functioning to keep our economy strong, and Georgia’s families and communities are counting on investments and services that will cease if the government shuts down. More importantly, a federal government shutdown will keep Congress from focusing on the issues that matter most: lowering the cost of health care, creating jobs, keeping the nation secure, and more.”
Senator Mark Warner
September 13, 2024: “Stay tuned, but if you feel like you’ve seen this show before and it’s a rerun, you’re right…End of the day, on this issue, again, no state in the country is more disproportionately hit than Virginia with a government shutdown.”
Senator Mark Kelly
September 29, 2023: “A government shutdown would have serious impacts. Servicemembers won’t get their paychecks. Airports could have major delays. Nutrition assistance for children could be cut off. We can’t let any of that happen. Congress needs to work together to prevent a shutdown.”
Senator Adam Schiff
September 2023: “Had the government shut down, hundreds of thousands of people would have not gotten their paychecks. Federal employees would have been furloughed, sent home, and others deemed essential like TSA workers, they would have been forced to go to work and not paid. Service members in the military would be forced to go to work and not get paid.”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
February 29, 2024: “Avoiding a government shutdown is not a positive achievement. It’s kind of like not punching yourself in the face — good not to do, but… And when we go through this so a handful of senators can fundraise off amendments they know won’t pass, it’s aggravating.”
Senator Chris Murphy
November 12, 2023: “The priority has to be keeping the government open and I think this is a moment where reasonable people in the Senate, and that’s where most of the reasonable people are these days, have to make sure that we are not making the perfect the enemy of the good.”
Senator Maggie Hassan
December 21, 2024: “Government shutdowns have real and severe impacts on the American people, including by risking our national security and threatening livelihoods – which is why it is important that we voted on a bipartisan basis to avert a shutdown.”
Senator Michael Bennet
February 2, 2019: “The least we could do is reopen our government and stop pursuing this self-inflicted harm that it creates to have hundreds of thousands of federal workers out of work and not being paid and not able to support their families while we continue to stand on this floor having mindless arguments that are going to do nothing to advance the future of our country. We shouldn’t shut the government down.”
Senator Chris Coons
September 27, 2013: “Shutting down the federal government, furloughing as many as 800,000 federal employees, and denying Americans access to the basic federal services due them is not a responsible way to resolve our nation’s political disagreements. Our democracy cannot function if the minority party threatens to shut down the government unless it gets its way.
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