On Sunday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) responded to comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blaming Republicans for a potential government shutdown — arguing that Schumer actually wants to force a shutdown as a way to help him “hang on to the U.S. Senate.”
In a letter to his Democrat colleagues on Thursday, Schumer argued that a potential government shutdown later this month would be caused by House Republicans “political games.”
“When the Senate returns next week, our focus will be on funding the government and preventing House Republican extremists from forcing a government shutdown,” Schumer claimed in the letter.
Blackburn responded to the Senate Majority Leader’s comments in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
The conversation began when Fox News host Jason Chaffetz, who was filling in for “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo, cited Schumer’s comments — pointing out that it appears that the Democrats “want to put all the blame, going into an election year, on the Republicans.”
Blackburn — who is a member of the Senate Finance Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee — argued that “the Democrats would like to have that government shutdown because it would halt these investigations that the House is working on” into the Biden family’s corruption and the Biden administration’s weaponization of the federal government.
The Tennessee senator then noted that Reps. James Comer (R-KY), Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jason Smith (R-MO) are continuing their investigations to “find out exactly what the relationship is between Joe Biden and Biden Incorporated.”
With the 2024 election looming, both parties are vying for control of the House, Senate and the White House. A possible government shutdown has the potential to damage whichever party is deemed responsible for the shutdown — though many conservative voters, and even some conservative lawmakers, have expressed a desire for the government to shut down because of corruption and out-of-control spending.
Exclusive — Conservative Leaders: Risk of Government Shutdown Worth Stopping Biden Agenda https://t.co/EFDd9MbvpA via @BreitbartNews
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 31, 2023
Meanwhile, Blackburn said that Republican lawmakers want to pass these spending bills to “take power away from the White House” and rein in inflation.
“But what we do know is this. Senate Republicans, House Republicans are pushing forward to get these spending bills across the finish line, because this is how we take the power away from the White House,” she said. “And this is what we can do to get inflation under control.”
