“These are working Americans. Their paychecks are missing. Their bills are mounting. Their stress is multiplying. Their message is clear: reopen the government today. Democrats refuse to listen. Instead, they freely admit this is all about politics.”

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor about how the Democrat Party’s union allies are demanding Senate Democrats support a clean continuing resolution and vote to end the Schumer Shutdown.

Click HERE to watch Senator Barrasso’s remarks.

Sen. Barrasso remarks as prepared:

“Let me start with a quote. ‘It is time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship.’ Those are the words of the American Federation of Government Employees. Not Fox News. Not National Review. Not the Wall Street Journal. These are the words of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union in America for federal workers.

“They were proud promoters of the far left’s radical rally held two weeks ago. They are a liberal group that has sued the Trump administration more than a dozen times this year. They endorsed Kamala Harris for President. 100 percent of their 2024 campaign war chest went to Democrats. Even Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois – the Democrat Whip – admits, ‘They’re our friends. We take them seriously.’

“This labor union is one of the Democrats’ biggest cheerleaders. Today, they’re calling out Democrats for playing politics and holding hostage the paychecks of 820,000 federal workers. If that doesn’t push the Democrats to wake up

and reopen the government, I don’t know what will.

“Today is Day 29 of the Schumer Shutdown. Democrats have set the record for the longest full government shutdown in American history. Union after union is begging Democrats to end it. It’s not only the American Federation of Government Employees.

“The head of the Capitol Police Union warns, ‘The longer the shutdown drags on, the harder it becomes for my officers.’

“The President of the Teamsters Union says, ‘American workers are not bargaining chips. Senators should stop screwing around and pass the House-passed clean, short-term funding bill.’

“The head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Union warns, ‘The message is simple: end the shutdown today. There is no excuse that these hardworking men and women are showing up to do this job and to not ever know when they’re going to get paid again.’

“These are working Americans. Their paychecks are missing. Their bills are mounting. Their stress is multiplying. Their message is clear: reopen the government today. Democrats refuse to listen. Instead, they freely admit this is all about politics.

“The Minority Leader Schumer gloated this month in a sit-down interview with Punchbowl News, ‘Every day gets better for us.’

“The House Democrat Whip admitted to Fox News, ‘Of course there will be families that are going to suffer, but it is one of the few leverage times we have.’

“Senator Chris Coons of Delaware just last Thursday told a national television audience on CSPAN, ‘Frankly, this is our only moment of leverage.’ He calls the shutdown an ‘unpleasant tool,’ yet he’s voted 13 times to use this ‘unpleasant tool’ to keep the government closed.

“Those are the words of high-ranking Democrats in both the House and the Senate. Vulnerable mothers and children are leverage so Democrats can give free healthcare to illegal immigrants. It’s reckless, radical, and wrong. The suffering, the unpleasantness is going to get worse as the week goes on. That’s unless Democrats reopen the government.

“Air traffic controllers missed their first full paychecks yesterday. 1.8 million federal workers miss their full paycheck Friday. That includes Border Patrol and TSA agents. By the end of this week, 42 million Americans will lose food assistance. Lines at food banks are already swelling. The New York Times reports food banks are ‘anticipating an even greater surge in demand.’ Families from New Hampshire to Georgia will go hungry because Democrats chose to close the government and refuse to reopen it.

“Democrats know the President cannot legally use emergency funds to the tune of $9 billion per month for food assistance. Democrats have one option: vote for a clean continuing resolution and reopen the government.

“Of course, the Schumer Shutdown is not only a financial issue. It is also causing a crisis in national safety. This past weekend, one in six air traffic control centers nationwide was understaffed. Since Sunday, nearly 20,000 flights have been delayed. Some Democrats privately say they won’t budge unless ‘planes are falling out of the sky.’

“Democrats continue to embrace the politics of pain. Democrats have chosen leverage over lives, fighting Trump over feeding families, and politics over paychecks. The American people deserve better.

“Senate Republicans have voted 13 times for a clean, short-term continuing resolution. It reopens the government and pays every federal worker. 13 times Senate Democrats have voted no. Under Joe Biden, they voted 13 times for the exact same kind of clean continuing resolution. Here’s the math everyone in this chamber understands. It takes 60 votes to reopen the government. 55 Senators have voted to reopen the government. That means it takes only 5 more Democrats to end the shutdown.

“Republicans are ready to pay our workers, feed our families, and reopen the government. Democrats voting against this are committed to what the House Democrat Whip admits is suffering – and what Senator Coons admits is unpleasantness. Democrats need to stop playing this dangerous game of the politics of pain.”

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