Democratic Senator Reveals A Government Shutdown Could 'Empower Musk To Go After More People'

11 hours ago

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) spoke with reporters on Wednesday on the continuing resolution.

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Transcript

00:00Are you going to vote for this?

00:02Look, I'm still reviewing the stopgap bill.

00:06I'm very concerned with some of the responses that we've already heard from folks across

00:11different parts of the country to many aspects that were included in the CR that I'm surprised

00:17so many Republicans also supported rather than negotiating with Speaker Johnson to be

00:21able to ensure that veterans and others were going to be held harmless with the devastation

00:27we see coming from Musk and others.

00:29So still taking a close look at that.

00:31As you know, I've always said shutdowns are bad.

00:34We're seeing what the market's doing to pensions this week and other uncertainty in the markets

00:38will just hurt people that have been playing by the rules and working hard.

00:42So that's also a concern that I'll be taking into consideration.

00:45What would be worse, a shutdown or the CR?

00:47They're both horrible.

00:49The way that this CR was drafted, a shutdown potentially could empower Musk to go after

00:56more people.

00:58So look, I think these are two bad products, bad environments that provide more chaos and

01:06uncertainty to the American people.

01:08But in the end, looking at which would be worse for constituents back home is how I'm

01:13going to be looking at this and weighing other aspects that we're seeing that are being revealed

01:17hour by hour, it seems like.

01:19What would your voters say if you guys passed the CR and really get nothing in return?

01:26This is your one piece of leverage.

01:27What if you get nothing in return?

01:29What would your voters say?

01:30Republicans are in charge of the House.

01:32Republicans are in charge of the Senate.

01:33Republicans have the White House.

01:35With power comes responsibility.

01:37And I think people are seeing clearly that Speaker Johnson didn't even want to negotiate

01:42with his Republican colleagues in the Senate, much less anyone else.

01:46They should have come together because there was a willingness to get things done.

01:49And by the way, when Patty Murray and Rosa DeLauro, two Democratic colleagues, introduced

01:55a 30-day stopgap to say, hey, let's work to get this done, I think I'm hearing more

02:00and more that all the appropriators, Democrats and Republicans, have an agreement.

02:04So why not allow for the appropriations bills, which provide more certainty to the American

02:09people, provide support for projects that were built from the ground up all across America?

02:15I don't know why no one's asking the appropriators if they have an agreement or not.

02:18That should have been what was on the floor over the next week, as opposed to all of this

02:22nonsense going back and forth.

02:23Will there be a backlash if you guys let this pass?

02:26Look, I think people are going to have opinions, rightfully so, one way or the other.

02:31And they're both correct.

02:33Both of these are bad, bad tools.

02:35So let's see what happens here as this vote gets closer as well, as we're all reviewing

02:39it.

02:40But in the end, I certainly hope people take note of what House Republicans did here in

02:44ignoring everyone else.

02:46And rather than moving important pieces of legislation that would not be devastating

02:51to folks, provide more certainty to veterans, that's where folks should be pushing as well.

02:55So look, people out there across the country are concerned, some of them angry, and for

03:01the right reasons.

03:03We need to be listening to them and make sure that everything we're doing is reflecting

03:06what they're teaching us and what they're telling us, because they're living it.

03:10They're feeling this in their day-to-day lives.

Democratic Senator Reveals A Government Shutdown Could 'Empower Musk To Go After More People'

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