A.G. Gancarski
The first shutdown of the federal government during the Donald Trump administration began Friday at midnight.
On Sunday afternoon, Florida Politics talked to Rep. John Rutherford about the impasse, just hours before a 3 p.m. House Conference as Congress attempts to reach a short-term fix to fund the government at least through Feb. 8.
Rutherford is irked with the “Schumer shutdown” and what he sees as politics being played regarding linking the DACA issue with a Continuing Resolution, with “Senate Democrats trying to tie DACA into the budget with an artificial deadline,” as DACA doesn’t expire until March 5.
“All over a false deadline,” Rutherford repeated, saying — not for the first time — that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “needs to do away with the 60-vote cloture rule.”
“The American people gave Republicans a majority in the Senate,” Rutherford asserted, and Senate leadership must “exercise [that Republican] majority” and not forfeit their prerogative to Democrats.
Rutherford’s constituents bear real impacts from the continued shutdown, especially those involved in defending the country.
The first-term Republican’s Northeast Florida district has “thousands of military families.” Many of their soldiers are deployed in foreign theaters and their “families back home aren’t getting paychecks.”
“We have men and women in harm’s way who aren’t getting paid,” Rutherford said, adding that his own niece, part of an overseas Secret Service detail for Vice President Mike Pence, is doing that vital job without getting paid.
“These Senate Democrats are putting illegal aliens before 320 million Americans,” Rutherford said, including the aforementioned military families and 9 million children enrolled in CHIP.
Rutherford says that six or seven states are “going broke” on the program, and need federal funding “immediately.”
5 comments
Peter Harding
January 21, 2018 at 9:02 pm
What a lying creep Rutherford has degenerated into. As if the children of illegal immigrants are themselves illegal immigrants. Statements like that make my skin crawl and remind me to try and see through the slick incongruous answers these type of politicians try to pass off as fact.
Cherie Billings
January 23, 2018 at 11:27 am
They are illegal immigrants – they were not born here!
Phil Morton
January 22, 2018 at 8:05 am
Republicans could have reauthorized CHIP in September, could have taken up DACA in September but instead wait until January so they can talk trash. Govern or get out of the way. Rutherford has been very disappointing and needs to be replaced.
Mark Brandenburg
January 22, 2018 at 9:16 am
Daca was never a law but a “policy”.
The democrats know that daca is a policy with a sunset clause, they should have taken political action way back when Obama was president and they had control of the house.
The shut down government by “adding ” it to a CR budget bill is ridiculous. It is solvent until March. Pass the budget and work on passing legislation like it should have been done years ago.
Karen
January 22, 2018 at 1:33 pm
Congressman Rutherford speaks for most of the people. Everyone knows this has nothing to do with poor pathetic illegals but all about Democrats exchanging welfare and citizenship for votes. NO DACA!
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