SPOKANE, Wash. — The federal government shutdown entered its 17th day Friday, surpassing many previous government closures.
Eastern Washington Rep. Michael Baumgartner sat down with 4 News Now’s Kirstin O’Connor to discuss the gridlock that has seen a budget stopgap bill fail to pass 10 times. Baumgartner maintains that Democrats must pass a funding bill before any discussion about extending healthcare subsidies can take place.
“To use it as leverage in a government shutdown and essentially hold the entire country hostage because you want to have a big change in healthcare policy that’s just the wrong way to do things,” Baumgartner said. “Republicans attempted a government shutdown in 2013 over repealing Obamacare, it wasn’t a great strategy then and this is not a great strategy for the Democrats now.”
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history lasted 35 days from December 21, 2018, to January 25,2019. When asked if the current shutdown could break that record, Baumgartner expressed hope it would not continue that long.
“It may be that they want to set the record. I hope not, but the longest record to date for government shutdown is 35 days. But it may be they want to push this thing to 36 days,” Baumgartner said.
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