On Wednesday’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press Now,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) said that Republicans should have killed the filibuster to go around Democratic opposition on the government shutdown and they “should work with Democrats, and if they won’t, proceed on their own.”
Deluzio said, “House Republicans passed their bill without Democrats. They didn’t want to work with us. They have the majority in the House, in the Senate, they control the White House. They’re in control in Washington. If they wanted to proceed without Democrats, they could do that. I think it’s foolish to ignore these tax credits that are expiring.”
He added, “I think the government should never have shut down. Republicans should not have proceeded this way. They could have worked with Democrats to have a responsible funding deal, a bipartisan deal.”
Host Kristen Welker then said, “[T]heir argument is, look, they have passed a bill, that Democrats could come to the table and vote on in the Senate and pass and the government would reopen.”
Deluzio responded, “If they wanted to reopen the government with that bill, they could do it. They’ve advanced judicial nominees without votes in the Senate from Democrats, they know how to proceed without a filibuster. They passed a terrible tax bill, in my opinion, without the filibuster. And they chose not to do anything on these expiring tax credits. So, when they want to, they’re certainly in power enough to work without Democrats.”
Welker then asked, “Are you advocating to kill the filibuster?”
Deluzio answered, “They should have. And they already have. They don’t use it for judicial nominees. They don’t need it for budget reconciliation.”
Later, Deluzio argued that now is the time to address ACA subsidies and stated that Republicans “should work with Democrats, and if they won’t, proceed on their own.”
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