House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., blasted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, telling Newsmax that Democrats handed President Donald Trump a political victory by forcing a partial government shutdown.
“This is insanity on Chuck Schumer’s part. Malpractice really on Chuck Schumer’s part,” Scalise told “The Record with Greta Van Susteren.” “What is their answer? To shut down the government and give Donald Trump more power?”
Scalise explained that the House passed a “clean continuing resolution” keeping spending flat until Nov. 21, essentially a temporary extension to allow negotiations to continue.
“It’s no changes, no new things, no taking out things that we don’t like. It just keeps everything status quo,” he said.
But with Democrats blocking the measure in the Senate, Scalise said the result is Trump gaining greater authority under the Antideficiency Act of 1870, which gives presidents expanded discretion during shutdowns to decide what services are “essential” and to manage furloughs.
“Even during the Obama shutdown in 2013, Obama got more power during the shutdown,” he said. “President Trump is the president. He gets more of the power of the purse to deem what’s essential and what’s not.”
Scalise accused Democrats of engineering the shutdown to push their own priorities.
“They have been hell-bent on getting taxpayer funding for healthcare for illegal aliens,” he said. “And that’s why they shut the government down.”
Federal law, however, bars illegal immigrants from Medicaid or Affordable Care Act subsidies, though Democrats in some states have supported expanded local coverage.
Looking ahead to Nov. 21, Scalise said the only path to an agreement is if Democrats abandon what he called “crazy demands.”
“They’re going to have to drop this demand that illegals should get healthcare for free,” he said. “The American people don’t want that.”
Despite the partisan brawl, Scalise noted that House and Senate committees had been negotiating appropriations bills before the shutdown.
“If Schumer votes to reopen the government, then we can get back to a negotiation on the differences on those bills and get normal government operations open again,” he said.