In a recent appearance on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Senator Markwayne Mullin voiced his concerns over the ongoing government shutdown, laying the blame squarely on Senate Democrats.
He accused them of intentionally prolonging the shutdown until November, a move he believes is designed to give them a political advantage. "I really thought we would open it back up Monday or Tuesday," Mullin stated. "But if you saw yesterday's vote, they blocked the defense bill."
As reported by Newsmax, Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, was incredulous at the actions of nearly a dozen Democrats who had initially supported the measure in committee, only to vote against it on the Senate floor. "Now, what's interesting about that is 11 people that voted for it out of the committee of jurisdiction and then out of the [Appropriations] Committee all voted 'no' on the floor. So that tells you that they're not even they're just digging in."
Mullin speculated that the Democrats' strategy might be to extend the shutdown until at least Nov. 1, possibly to align with upcoming changes to the Affordable Care Act. "Now, you start thinking, when will they open the government?" he questioned. "Maybe their next play is they're expecting the premiums to go way up on Nov. 1, which I don't think they are. I think they're overplaying their hand, and that's where they're going to push the government shutdown to."
The Senator expressed confusion over the delay, given that the "clean" continuing resolution Republicans are attempting to pass is identical to one that Democrats supported when they controlled the Senate. "What a lot of people are completely overlooking is the clean CR, which is a clean, continuing resolution of operating the government the way that it is now ... was written by [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer last year," he explained.
"This is his clean CR. He wrote it when he was leader of the Senate when [former President] Joe Biden was in office last September to prevent a shutdown."
Mullin didn't hold back in his criticism of the Democratic Party, accusing it of veering towards extreme left views. "This is no longer the party of JFK [the late President John F. Kennedy]," he declared. "This is a party of extreme left views that want to turn the country into something that it's not."
The senator also highlighted the financial implications of the ongoing shutdown, warning that taxpayers are shouldering an increasing burden with each passing day. "It's costing the American taxpayers $400 million per day to furlough 750,000 government employees," he said, adding that penalties from halted federal contracts could push the total cost closer to $1 billion a day.
The Senator's comments underscore the deepening political divide in the country, with the government shutdown serving as a stark reminder of the consequences of such partisan disputes. As the shutdown continues, the American people are left to bear the brunt of the financial burden, a fact that Senator Mullin was keen to emphasize.
The question now is, how long will this political standoff continue, and at what cost to the American taxpayer?
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