Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) to call out Democrats for inflicting painful suffering on the American people while trying to blame Republicans for the shutdown Democrats voted for. Leader Scalise addressed Democrats’ lies about the shutdown and urged Senate Democrats to pass House Republicans' clean CR, end the pain, and reopen the government.
 
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s remarks:

On Democrats trying to blame Republicans for the shutdown Democrats voted for:

“What's so sad about this shutdown is that we don't need to be in these turbulent times. It was a self-imposed wound that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer have imposed on the country. If you look over this last month of the shutdown, you've seen Democrats literally playing a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde game with the American people. 

“On one hand, they'll try to say, it's not us, it's the Republicans... And then on the other hand, Mr. Jekyll said, they're saying that they know that they're causing pain on the American people. They admit that there is suffering, but they're doing it for leverage. So, you can't have it both ways, Chuck Schumer. You can't wake up one day and say you're going to try to blame it on the Republicans, and then on the next day, you're trying to say that gee whiz, we know that we're causing these problems. They're admitting they're causing suffering on people, but they're doing it for leverage. And they can't even explain what that leverage is. Because they just need to show their radical base that they're having a fight with Donald Trump. It's all it's been about from the beginning.”

On the radical direction of the Democrat party:

“You really want to know who's calling the shots in the Democrat Party: You saw it on the stage this past weekend. Bernie and AOC on the stage with the new leader of the Democrat Party, Mamdani. Maybe Chuck Schumer is waiting for Mamdani to let him know when he can open the government back up again. But families can't wait because the real suffering is going to begin. It's already been happening, but it really hits home this weekend when SNAP benefits run out, and they know that.”

On Democrats lying to the American people:

“I'm going to go through some of the lies, the myths, the things that they say when they know better. Chuck Schumer just yesterday said, 'Republicans are in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House, but they're refusing to do their job.' Now, Chuck Schumer has been in Congress since the 1980s. He knows that every day he's been there, there's been a requirement that you need not 51, not a majority like we need in the House... Every day, Chuck Schumer has been in Congress, it always took more than a simple majority, in fact, 60 votes to pass these kinds of bills through the Senate. He knows that. So you'd ask, why is he trying to lie and mislead the American people? When he makes a statement like that, he knows he's trying to mislead the American people. And yet on other days, he does admit he knows he's causing suffering, but he's doing it for leverage.

“So this game back and forth is what the American people are sick and tired of. Hakeem Jeffries: ‘We didn't view the current bill as anything other than a partisan Republican spending bill.' He knows good and well that it was a clean CR. If Democrats, still to this day, don't know the difference between a clean CR and partisan bills, did they stop reading the bills? Because they used to vote for these bills. Just since 2017, go look at the facts. Speaker likes talking about the facts. Facts are important here. Since 2017, 30 different CRs, 30 times CRs have moved to keep the government open. Do you know 29 of the previous times Chuck Schumer has voted yes? 29. This 30th time is the only time Chuck Schumer has voted no. Of course, you'd say, well, then what's changed if he's voted 29 out of 29 times before this, he voted for clean CRs? What's changed? This is a clean CR. What's changed is the Democrat Party has Mamdani is now running the party. That party has changed.”

On Democrats supporting taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and reckless spending:

“And, of course, the final myth that's been out there for the beginning of this whole shutdown that we've debunked many times, 'that it’s a total effing lie,' that was Chuck Schumer's word... 'that Democrats support free, taxpayer-funded health care for illegals.' That was Schumer saying that. And then, of course, when you read his alternative bill, his list of hostage demands, the $1.5 trillion spending bill, it includes in it a provision that repeals the verification we put in that says illegals can't get free health care. CBO, not us, CBO said that would cost $200 billion in taxpayer health care benefits going to illegals. They know that. Of course, they know it. And so why would they want to try to mislead the American people by over and over again making those statements? So here you can see it.”

On the urgent need for Senate Democrats to vote on House Republicans’ clean CR:

“More importantly, the American people are feeling the suffering. And this weekend, that suffering gets worse. And we have voted over and over again to prevent the suffering. It's not necessary. It shouldn't happen. And there's a way to avoid it. All they need to do is today, just five Senate Democrats need to get courage and say, we're not going to take our orders from Mamdani or whoever else it is that are calling the shots over there. We're going to do the right thing and open this government back up so we can get into that negotiation over all of our differences, which are many. But just don't hold the American people hostage while that goes on.”

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