SCOOP: RSC slams Chuck Schumer's "hostage crisis" as Schumer Shutdown enters second week
One reporter on the RSC's call remarked to the Washington Reporter that Republicans' transparency during the shutdown is a marked contrast to what she's seen from Democrats.
“As a fighter pilot, I care deeply about national security, and the negative impacts Chuck Schumer’s shutdown has had on our national security,” the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) said as the Schumer Shutdown enters its second week.
Rep. August Pfluger, a decorated Air Force pilot and former squadron commander pointed to the 1.3 million active-duty military service members, along with hundreds of thousands of active members of the National Guard, and Americans who work for the Defense Department who will miss a paycheck on October 15th if Senate Democrats continue their refusal to reopen the government.
“It’s disgraceful to think about military members and border patrol agents who will be forced to work without pay,” Pfluger said on an RSC conference call. He also questioned “why do military-dependent kids have to suffer through that?”
Congressional aides said legislation would have to pass by October 13th for the troops’ payroll to process on time given the number of people involved.
Pfluger noted that “Chuck Schumer has chosen to pander to the far-left wing of his party,” adding that Schumer’s refusal to pass the budget is a “hostage crisis… [he is] holding federal law enforcement agents ransom.”
Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.) joined Pfluger on the call, and called Schumer’s demands of healthcare for illegal immigrants and funding for NPR and PBS “a liberal wish list.”
“It’s time for the Democrats to quit holding America hostage and vote for the clean CR,” Alford, a himself a former longtime local newsman, added.
All three members said they’re working hard in their districts to assist the communities hardest hit by the Schumer Shutdown.
Alford, for example, is making rounds to hospitals in his district — which is home to 18 of the country’s largest rural hospitals — to ensure stable funding is made available through the state.
“Impacts of the Schumer shutdown are undeniable,” Alford said, “Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are putting Americans’ lives at risk.”
Alford’s fellow RSC member, freshman Rep. Brandon Gill (R., Texas), seconded the point about funding public news outlets.
“We could’ve filled the continuing resolution with GOP priorities,” he said. But, Republicans purposefully made the CR “more palatable” for Democrats who voted on this 13 times in the past — including this year, Gill said before noting that Democrats reject the legislation this time “because they want your hard-earned tax dollars to pay for healthcare for illegal aliens and NPR and PBS.”
“Remember, we just had four years under Biden where Democrats flooded the country with illegal aliens in hopes they would become Democrat voters,” the Texas lawmaker added.
Throughout the Schumer Shutdown, Republicans have been noticeably more present in the media than their Democratic counterparts. According to an Axios analysis, Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) has done double the number of TV appearances that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) has done in the past week — Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) is similarly lapping Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
It’s a juxtaposition that journalists are quickly noticing. Marisela Ramirez, who was one of the reporters on the RSC call, remarked to the Reporter afterwards that “the Republican Study Committee’s transparency during this Democrat shutdown proves that it’s Republicans who are working to get back to business as usual and serve the American people.”