Rep. Beth Van Duyne on Thursday accused Democrats of pushing a “radical agenda” and “doubling down on crazy” during the ongoing government shutdown, and warned that their demands could add $1.5 trillion in spending and redirect taxpayer dollars away from working families.
“The demands are ridiculous,” the Texas Republican told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “They want to spend an additional $500 million for liberal media stations, give billions away to foreign countries for climate programs, and provide free healthcare to folks who should never be in our country.”
The shutdown entered its second day after two Senate votes failed to reach the 60-vote threshold, with lawmakers set to resume negotiations after the Yom Kippur holiday. Van Duyne said Republicans are holding firm while President Donald Trump’s administration ensures essential services remain prioritized.
“Thank God that during a shutdown, it’s during the Trump administration where they’re taking it seriously,” she said. “Unlike the Obama administration, which wanted to make it as painful as possible for the public, this administration is preventing people from even recognizing that we’re in a shutdown.”
Van Duyne stressed that the continuing resolution under debate would simply extend “the Biden-Pelosi budget from last year for another seven weeks,” arguing Democrats are the ones pushing a shutdown for political leverage.
“At the end of the day, you’re going to have 1.3 million active military members not getting paid, thousands in the Coast Guard and Homeland Security not getting paid, and benefits set to expire,” she said. “For a party that claims to care about working Americans, they are throwing them under the bus just to get headlines.”
Calling it a “90–10 issue,” Van Duyne said voters across party lines rejected taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal migrants in last November’s elections.
“They keep doubling down on crazy,” she said. “They’re defending illegal folks, not defending citizens. They are defending criminals, not defending their citizens.”
Despite the impasse, Van Duyne said Republicans are prepared.
“Under the Trump administration, they have a strategy to deal with this. They win either way.”
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