Scalise: What Are Democrats Waiting For?

Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and House Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (R-Texas) to discuss federal workers and hardworking families feeling the negative impact of the Democrats’ shutdown. Leader Scalise slammed Democrats for prioritizing political leverage over the well-being of Americans.
 
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s remarks:

On Democrats trying to gut $50 billion in funding for rural hospitals:

“Democrats think this is some kind of game. Speaker has talked about this over and over again, but what has their reaction been? Not figuring out a solution to get out of it, an off-ramp, it's doing stupid TikTok videos, making fun of this situation, thinking that the American people are leverage — leverage — in their game to get some unachievable goal, a $1.5 trillion in new spending, $200 billion in taxpayer benefits for illegals, gutting $50 billion out of a health care fund for rural hospitals. And again, they try to claim it's about something else. Maybe it's about health care. Well, if it was about health care, they wouldn't be gutting $50 billion out of the rural health care fund. They wouldn't have fought, by the way, on the Senate floor months ago to remove a provision, the cost-sharing ratios, that would have lowered premiums on families by 11%. It was in our bill. We voted for it, passed out of the House...They fought to raise premiums on families, Democrats have over and over again, and now they're imposing real pain on American families with this shutdown.”

On Democrats using American families as leverage:

“We've got some new numbers that have come in, and these are not good numbers, unfortunately. Reuters reported more than 2,700 flights delayed nationwide on Monday, and more than 8,600 flight delays just Sunday. 8,600 flight delays. Think of how many families were impacted. Every flight well over 100 people on each one of those 8,600 flights that were delayed, all because Chuck Schumer and radical Democrats want to use American people as leverage. A Democrat aide said they won't concede short of ‘planes falling out of the sky.’ Who are these people? Didn't they once care about this great nation and making it better? And now they think if a plane falls out of the sky, that's their leverage? For what? Goodness.

“Chuck Schumer, 'Every day gets better for us.' Who is us? Because I can tell you who them are. The American people are sick and tired of Chuck Schumer and his friends thinking it's a better day for him when they are feeling more pain. Senator Coons, 'The point of this shutdown is not just suffering for suffering's sake, but to make a point,' as if suffering of the American people is not enough. We've heard, of course, over and over again, Katherine Clark, 'shutdowns are terrible. Of course, there will be families that are going to suffer, but it is one of the few leverage times we have.' They keep saying over and over again, they know American people are suffering. They don't care. They want leverage for themselves. They want to show off to their radical socialist base. Bernie, of course, Bernie Sanders, who was on the stage with AOC over with Mamdani the other day, with their socialist love fest. Bernie, 'You reopen the government and we lose our leverage. That's what this whole shutdown is about.' They're telling you what they mean. Democrats sourced in The Hill article last week that we talked about, 'We would have enough votes to reopen the government if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine.' This is Democrats being afraid of their own base because their base is so radical that they're afraid of their base.”

On 42 million Americans missing SNAP benefits:

“Rep. Emilia Sykes said, 'We know that people are going to suffer if we don't open the government. People will go hungry.' Well, she knows it. She's causing that hunger. But let's put a point on this. In an ABC article regarding the 42 million Americans that are going to lose SNAP benefits next week, Joel Berg, who's the CEO of the nonprofit, Hunger Free America, said this, 'We are going to see the greatest hunger crisis since the Great Depression. And that's not hyperbole. That's just true.' The greatest hunger crisis since the Great Depression, when 42 million people lose their SNAP benefits this weekend. 

“What are these Democrats waiting for? This is not a game. This is not leverage. They're taking food off the table for families, for babies. It's disgusting. It's time to end the madness. They can go on the Senate floor today. Just five of them need to get courage. Just five of them need to get the courage to do the right thing and open the government today and end this pain and end the suffering that they've caused. Then we can go negotiate our differences.”

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