In the News

Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) joined House Republican leadership on day 27 of the Democrat government shutdown to discuss how the Democrats’ political games are negatively impacting the American people. 

Click here or above to watch Whip Emmer’s remarks.

Whip Emmer: “We are now on day 27 of the Democrat shutdown, and the consequences are getting more severe every single day. Over the weekend, we saw federal workers lined up at food banks, as our Majority Leader was just saying, as they are being forced to figure out how to feed their families. We saw control towers at major airports such as Dallas Fort Worth, Newark, and Phoenix facing significant staffing shortages. And if the Democrats fail to pass our clean CR and reopen the government this week, more Americans will miss their hard-earned paychecks. Some states will be forced to cut off SNAP benefits, including my home state of Minnesota. Thankfully, the Trump administration and private sector companies have stepped up where the Democrats have refused. President Trump has found creative solutions to help pay our troops and fund WIC benefits for moms and young children for just a little bit longer. DoorDash announced yesterday that they will help support Americans by delivering free meals to food banks and waiving delivery and service fees on grocery orders for SNAP recipients. But these are Band-Aid solutions to the Democrats’ self-inflicted shutdown problem. Remember: It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a nonpartisan government funding bill sitting in the Senate ready to be sent to President Trump’s desk immediately. We just need five Senate Democrats to come to their senses, do the right and reasonable thing, and support our clean CR. Contrary to what House Minority Whip Katherine Clark believes, the American people are not ‘leverage’ in the Democrats’ shutdown charade. And we refuse to negotiate under hostage conditions, nor will we pay a ransom. So our message today is the same as every other day, and we’re glad to see, as the Majority Leader mentioned, that the American Federation of Government Employees, by the way the largest federal employee union, 820,000 federal employees, have joined us in saying: enough with the political games, support our clean CR, and reopen the government like your constituents’ livelihoods depend on it, because they do.”