One month after House Republicans passed the continuing resolution (CR), Representatives Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) and Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) are on the offensive against Democrats, accusing them of perpetrating the government shutdown. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), much like House Democrats, feels the blame lies with House Republicans.
Over the weekend, the House Republicans X page questioned, "when will the Democrats stop holding the American people hostage?"
Rep. Diaz Balart responded to the post, affirming that "@HouseGOP passed a clean, nonpartisan bill to keep the government open a month ago."
"I urge Senate Democrats to stop with the political grandstanding, act responsibly, follow their own advice, and vote to reopen the government by passing this clean House bill," Rep. Diaz Balart added.
Similarly, Rep. Gimenez shared that "it's been one month since @HouseGOP passed a clean CR to keep the government open. Democrats have voted again and again to keep it shut down instead of fighting for the American people."
Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) echoed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during an appearance on Fox Business's Mornings with Maria, pointing out that Democrats' primary motivation seems to be purely out of spite for President Donald Trump.
"I think it is about them just wanting to oppose anything that President Trump is doing, anything," said Rep. Mast. "If [the White House] is cutting spending, they want to oppose that. It does not matter. There will be an opposition."
However, Rep. Wasserman Schultz argued that because Republicans hold the majority in the House and Senate and control the White House, meaning that the shutdown is their fault.
"It's Day 19 of the shutdown. This is your reminder that Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress. The GOP owns this," Rep. Wasserman Schultz shared on social media.
Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) had previously rebuked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for similarly claiming the GOP owns the shutdown by pointing out that the Senate needs 60 votes to pass the CR.
At the same time, however, Rep. Steube questioned, "so why don't we just do what [Rep. Jeffries] says that we are doing and call on [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune (R-SD), which I have done repeatedly, to do away with the filibuster 60-vote threshold and pass the CR to fund the government?
