‘Absurd Demand’: Rep. Baumgartner rips Democrats for shutting down the government

The government shutdown entered its first day on Wednesday, and Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) told The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM that Democrats—not Republicans—are to blame for the crisis.

Baumgartner said Democrats refused to negotiate unless Republicans agreed to expand Obamacare to cover illegal immigrants.

“It’s such absurd messaging from the Democrats,” Baumgartner said. “You know what this is really about is their base is just very frustrated that the American people returned Donald Trump to the White House, and they have a hard time dealing with that fact, and their base is so frustrated, and their radical socialist fringe, and so they are forcing Democrat leadership to shut down the government to show that they’re angry so they can, you know, quote, unquote, fight harder against the president.”

Democrats weren’t negotiating in good faith

Baumgartner explained that Republicans had already compromised on the budget, even though they were still willing to negotiate in good faith.

“What Republicans have done is we have offered to continue spending at current levels, which is actually a Biden era budget, which is a pretty generous offer from Republicans, just to keep things moving and open while a broader budget discussion takes place,” he said. But Democrats, he argued, are “using that leverage in an irresponsible way.”

Asked whether Democrats were prolonging the shutdown for political optics, Baumgartner was blunt: “Right now, they’re not negotiating in good faith. What it really is, is they’re attempting to do a ludicrous policy change in the middle of a government shutdown, which is, they essentially want Obamacare expanded and want Republicans to agree to give health care to illegal immigrants in exchange for not shutting down the government, which is, you know, an absurd demand, and not something that has any semblance of happening.”

He added that Democrats would eventually fold once the effects of the shutdown hit home.

“Once soldiers aren’t getting paid and flood insurance isn’t being issued, so that homes can’t be purchased, and federal employees are being furloughed… the pressure will build on the Democrats, and then, you know, at some point enough senators will come over and vote to keep the government open, and then we’ll go back to regular budget negotiations,” he explained.

Republicans already compromised

Rantz pressed Baumgartner on whether Republicans had already given up too much by agreeing to Biden-era spending levels. The congressman agreed.

“Yes, we have compromised. And you know, in what we actually passed was a seven week continuing spending resolution so that the bigger budget negotiations could just continue,” he said. “The messaging and the focus needs to be the American people. You know, the Democrats are going to try to make this an issue of health care and open up a broader health care discussion. And you know, we’re going to say, no, let’s get the government back open and make sure that people can purchase homes and soldiers get paid.”

Baumgartner also warned of the broader stakes.

“It would be better if the shutdown were not happening. It’s going to cost the taxpayers money at the end of the day, once the government opens back up, because it always costs more money to open the government back up, and it would have cost just to keep it running,” he said. “And also, there’s going to be some folks that suffer because they’re important government services like getting flood insurance if you purchase a home in a flood area, or, you know, having our military get paid… Republicans don’t want that to happen. I don’t want that to happen. We’re calling on Democrats to take a step back.”

He stressed that the American people—not Democrats—decided the direction of government.

“Ultimately, the Democrats just need to accept that the American people put President Trump in the White House as the duly elected President,” Baumgartner said. “It is going to be a lot of unnecessary pain. And, you know, the Democrats should own that.”

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Seattle Red on 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.