Americans Are Paying the Price for Democrats' Government Shutdown | Opinion

The decision to shut down the federal government by Democratic Party leadership in Washington, D.C., is nothing more than political theater, and everyday Americans will be the ones who pay the price for it. On Sep. 19, every single House Republican voted to keep the government open by passing a clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution. Senate Republicans also voted to keep the government open, but the vast majority of Senate Democrats blocked this continuing resolution, forcing federal funding to lapse and the government to shut down. 

Our national debt currently stands at $37 trillion. For years, elected officials from both sides of the aisle have come to Washington, raising the alarm on that figure. The only problem is that many of these officials get to the nation’s capital, and there is very little appetite to make the hard decisions required to get our spending in check. President Donald Trump has been the first president in decades to come to Washington, D.C., and do the unthinkable — pause federal spending, go line by line through the federal budget and seriously evaluate how our tax dollars are being spent. For many leaders in nation’s capital, this was heartburn. But for fiscal conservatives like me, it was welcomed fiscal sanity.

Now, Congress must do its part to rein in our federal spending and get our fiscal house in order by passing appropriations bills and returning to regular order. 

Our seven-week continuing resolution allows the government to operate at current funding levels while Congress finishes up the appropriations process. Instead of working with Republicans, Democrat leadership, at the beck and call of far-left activists, demanded that Congress change Medicaid rules to allow taxpayer money go to free health care for people in the country illegaly, spend $500 million in supporting radical public news outlets and add $1.5 trillion in new spending on a COVID-19-era health care policy issue completely unrelated to government funding. 

Make no mistake: This shutdown is Washington Democrats’ to own. 

These political games put some of our most vulnerable and brave Americans at risk. Every day that the government is shut down is another day American troops, Transportation Security Administration and Border Patrol agents won’t be paid, despite putting their lives on the line to serve our country. Moms who depend on the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program will have delayed benefits. Our nation’s veterans who depend on the Department of Veterans Affairs for their health care may face disrupted or delayed care. Not only that, but flood insurance managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be delayed, and those impacted by hurricanes or other storms won’t have access to this vital resource they need. These Americans should not have to pay the price for Democrats’ unpopular policy agenda.

A recent New York Times poll revealed that 65% of Americans do not believe Democrats should shut down the government if their demands are not met. Despite this reality, the consensus among too many Democrat leaders in Washington has been that they would rather see President Trump fail than work together to fund the government. It’s frustrating, and I find it sad that they have chosen to try to score political points rather than do what’s best for the country. 

America is better than this, and quite frankly, the country deserves stronger leadership than what some of my colleagues are choosing. It’s time to come to the table, return to regular order, re-open the government and get our fiscal house back in order.