McCollum Statement on Republican Chaos as Shutdown Nears

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, released the following statement today, sending a message to House Republican leadership:

“In just over 24 hours, if we cannot come to an honest, responsible, and bipartisan solution on a continuing resolution to fund federal agencies, we will be forced into a government shutdown. Our constituents are relying on us to work together to fulfill our constitutional responsibility to fund their government. Failing to do so will harm this nation’s children and families, our service members and veterans, our seniors and our next generation, and all those who depend on the services and investments our government provides. Let me be clear: This is a completely avoidable, politically-manufactured crisis, but it will have real consequences for the American people. 

“The looming shutdown is the result of a failure to govern by the House Republican Majority, who have allowed this body’s legislative work to be undermined by an extreme MAGA faction that controls GOP leadership. Democrats in the House, President Biden, and a bipartisan Senate have been working for a solution to prevent a shutdown. This included compromising to meet Republican demands to cap spending levels for the next two years under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Biden less than four months ago.

“But that wasn’t enough for these GOP extremists. Instead of doing the serious work of moving bipartisan bills at those agreed upon levels, this Republican Majority has chosen chaos. They have chosen to waste months pursuing devastating cuts to the services the American people rely on, slashing investments in keeping people and our planet healthy—all while loading up their appropriations bills with toxic culture war provisions that are discriminating and harmful to our families and our communities.

“And the Continuing Resolution they brought to the floor today is nothing more than a continuation of their denial of the serious work that needs to be done. It does nothing to avoid a shutdown. Instead, Republicans are holding the American people hostage with a demand for a 30 percent cut across the board to federal agencies. This would result in a 74 percent cut to our federal investments in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), literally leaving families in the cold that is already settling in back home in Minnesota. They proposed to cut nutrition support for Women, Infants, and Children by 30 percent, taking away a lifeline for hungry families and pregnant women.

“They want to see investments in the health of our communities gutted:

-Their bill would mean the loss of thousands of research grants to cure Alzheimer’s disease, cancers, and heart disease;
-Thousands of my constituents would lose access to care at their Community Health Centers, as would millions more rural and underserved families nationwide;
-and millions more who are struggling with opioid addiction or mental health crises would be denied life-saving support services.

“There is no end to the harm and hurt that this extreme Republican Continuing Resolution would cause to our families, our economy, and our communities if passed into law. But Speaker McCarthy knows there is no chance that this bill will become law because Democrats in the House, a bipartisan majority of Senators, and President Biden would never support this betrayal of our responsibilities to our fellow Americans.

“But until the House Republican Majority stops catering to the bullies in their caucus, we cannot move forward on funding the federal government. So I invite my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop the chaos. Join us in doing the serious work of funding our government and meeting the needs of our constituents. With just five reasonable Republican votes, we can force Speaker McCarthy to take up a vote on a bipartisan solution.

“America deserves better leadership than what the Chaos Caucus has to offer.”

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