SCOOP: Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise, and Chairman Pfluger turn to new media outlets to counter Schumer Shutdown disinformation
The current and former RSC Chairmen joined forces to explain to new media outlets what's actually going on during the Schumer Shutdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) and Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas), the Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman, set the record straight on the Schumer Shutdown during a call restricted to new media outlets; it was the latest way that House Republicans are taking their messaging directly to the American people.
The trio of current and former RSC Chairmen joined together to correct the record about some of the more blatant lies promulgated by Democrats and by their allies in the media. Scalise blasted Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) for “holding the American people hostage,” as the Senate adjourned until Tuesday without movement towards a resolution to reopen the government.
“They’re still unhappy with election results from November, so they voted to shut down the government,” Scalise added.
Pfluger, a former military pilot, explained that, while Schumer and almost all Senate Democrats shut the government down “for political theater reasons,” there are real-world consequences.
A protracted shutdown could provably jeopardize America’s military readiness, the Air Force veteran explained.
“I remember going through a shutdown, and the thing that happens during that time is that you can’t focus on the mission,” Pfluger explained. “You can’t focus on the worldwide threats that we face. Instead, our commanders today are having to focus on whether or not junior enlisted and quite frankly, all of their personnel, are going to be able to make ends meet. That includes those who are deployed, the stress that they already endure with deployments is now tripled, quadrupled, orders of magnitude that we probably don’t even understand, because now their spouses are at home, maybe with new babies, are wondering if they’re going to be able to put food on the table, and Chuck Schumer is continuing to stand in the way of that.”
In contrast with most Senate and House Democrats, Pfluger noted that House and Senate Republican “have voted to fund the military. Senate Republicans have voted seven times to fund the military, and it’s time that [Democrats] come to their senses and do the right thing by America, because our enemies certainly are not waiting.”
Scalise echoed how Democrats’ obstinance is jeopardizing the hard-earned pay of American troops — and took a jab at Schumer for the New York Democrat’s now-infamous remark that a prolonged shutdown is good for Senate Democrats.
“Y’all saw that quote that [Schumer] made just a day and a half ago, bragging that the shutdown is good for Chuck Schumer?” Scalise asked. “Well, it’s not good for millions of families, including, as August said, for our military men and women. At least a third of our men and women in uniform live paycheck to paycheck, and come the 15th, they’re about to miss their first paycheck, and if the government’s not open on Monday, that paycheck doesn’t get processed, and looks like the Senate’s not even going to be be able to vote on Monday.”
“Most Americans,” Scalise added, “if they knew the facts, they would not tolerate what’s going on, and they’re starting to realize it.”
The Republican lawmakers, however, have at times encountered comedic levels of obstruction from liberal media outlets when it comes to getting their message to the American people.
Johnson highlighted one recent instance, where CNN cut him off mid-press conference to attempt to fact check him over reports of Democrats wanting to fund health care for illegal immigrants, only for the network to apologize to Johnson.
The Speaker of the House revealed that the CEO of Warner Brothers called him to “retract and apologize” after CNN anchor Pamela Brown cut him off mid-sentence to counter his claims that the Democrats’ bill would restore $200 billion in health care subsidies for illegals.
“When I pointed to the provision, CNN cut me off and they editorialized this on a news program not an opinion show,” he said.
Brown’s moves are incredibly unusual, a veteran reported explained to the Reporter. “CNN had to preemptively produce a counter argument ahead of the presser to feed into Brown’s ear,” Marisela Ramirez said. “It was a brazen plan to lie to their viewers and delegitimize the Speaker.”
The reality is, Johnson noted, that the Democrats are both trying to fund health care for illegal immigrants and maintain their unprecedented shutdown.
“There have been four true shutdowns of the government where operations were affected for more than one business day since 1995,” he said, “but this is the first time that a party has ever shut down the government over a clean CR. The continuing resolution is clean…and it is 24 pages in length of bare bones minimum to keep the lights on. And why is that? Because Republicans are working very hard to restore the regular order of Congress.” Restoring regular order in Congress has been a priority of both Johnson and of other top Republicans in Congress.
“We are trying to get back to the way [Congress is] supposed to work,” he said. “Instead of governing by irresponsible omnibus spending bills that are 2,000 pages long, that are passed in a yes or no, up or down vote on the eve of Christmas every year that no one has fully read or understood because they never debated it, we’re done with that. We’re trying to push Congress back to the way it’s supposed to work, and I’m so proud to say that we’ve made tremendous strides in that we got 12 separate appropriations bills through the House Appropriations Committee, three off the floor, and the Senate passed three appropriations bills this year. That hasn’t happened in a long, long time.”
Across the Capitol and across the aisle, Schumer remains confident in Democrats’ negotiating position on insisting on the extension of health care subsidies, saying that “every day gets better for us” as the shutdown continues.
Scalise called Schumer’s remarks “disgusting” and said the far-left flank of the Democratic Party is the motivational force behind the stalemate, “it’s the cheapest political stunt strictly because he’s scared to death of his political future.”
Johnson pointed to the rise of New York’s mayoral candidate Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, as a driving force of Schumer’s inactivity on compromise.
“Even though he’s far-left, he doesn’t identify as a Marxist and he’s afraid [his base] haven’t called him out on it yet,” Johnson said.
Pfluger, for his part, voiced concerns about the larger swaths of moderate Democrats’ “caving” to progressive demands. “This is the faction of the party — the radical side that — has voted to defund the military and defund the police,” Pfluger said.
The White House recently begun substantial layoffs across the government, but the total extent of the layoffs was not immediately clear. In the wake of those cuts, Johnson said that Russ Vought and the entire administration are in an “unenviable position”.
“They now have to sit down and determine what are the most essential positions in the government,” he said.
Meanwhile Schumer responded to the cuts saying, “nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this. They don’t have to do it; they want to. They’re callously choosing to hurt people.”
Johnson countered Schumer’s sentiment saying without government funding the cuts are unavoidable, adding that the, “easiest way to make this stop is for five [Democrats] to join with Republicans.”