House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is laying blame for the ongoing government shutdown at the feet of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Emmer pointed to Schumer being worried about losing his post, Fox News reported on Friday.
“What’s behind the shutdown is you have a scared old man that’s afraid of losing his leadership position, a guy by the name of Chuck Schumer over in the Senate,” he said, adding, “This has nothing to do with healthcare. This had to do, again, with Chuck Schumer and Democrats’ misguided priorities that put illegals ahead of taxpaying American citizens.”
In September, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) theorized during an interview with Breitbart News that Schumer was pushing Congress to a government shutdown because he was afraid of being challenged in a primary by leftist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“Chuck Schumer is shutting down the government because he’s terrified of a primary from AOC. His actions are disgraceful,” Cotton stated.
On Thursday, Schumer blamed President Donald Trump for the shutdown, claiming the issue was with cuts to healthcare funding, per the Fox article. However, Emmer said Schumer’s proposal would have reinstated Medicaid to over one million illegal immigrants.
The outlet continued:
“You have a law in this country that says illegals are not able to get Medicaid. But you know what? You didn’t have the verification tools in place to enforce the law. So, we put the verification in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, also known as the Big, Beautiful Bill,” he said. “And guess what? The [Congressional Budget Office] … estimated that would kick 1.4 million illegals off of Medicaid if we keep those verifications.”
“And that, by the way, is what is in writing in the alternative proposal in the Senate. Get rid of those verification requirements, which, guess what, means you’re putting 1.4 million illegals back on Medicaid,” explained Emmer. “That is not what the American people want. That it’s not what Donald J. Trump promised, and that’s not what Republicans in the House are going to do.”
Indeed, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) has admitted the government shutdown fight is over Democrats wanting to hand out free health care to illegals and make Americans foot the bill, Breitbart News reported Wednesday.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Emmer wrote, “Republicans voted to keep the government open with a clean, nonpartisan CR. Democrats shut the government down, putting millions of Americans’ livelihoods at risk, all to push their radical agenda through. Stop the political games, do your job, and reopen the government.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has also said Democrats were to blame for the government shutdown to satisfy their leftist base, according to Breitbart News.
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