CSPAN - Washington Journal Rep. Chuck Fleischmann R-TN
Aired: 2025-10-03
Duration: 08:58


=== Government Shutdown Debate (08:58) ===

[00:00:00]  D.C., October 3rd, 2025.
[00:00:03]  I hereby designate the period from Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 through Monday, October 13th, 2025, as a district work period under clause 13 of Rule 1.
[00:00:16]  Signed sincerely, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
[00:00:23]  Pursuant to Clause 13 of Rule 1, the House stands adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, October 6, 2025.
[00:00:40]  I'm Dasha Burns, host of Ceasefire, bridging the divide in American politics.
[00:00:49]  Ceasefire, Premieres October 10th.
[00:00:55]  Welcome back to Washington Journal.
[00:00:56]  We're joined by Representative Chuck Fleischman.
[00:00:59]  He's a Republican of Tennessee's 3rd District and also a member of the Appropriations and the Science, Space, and Technology Committees.
[00:01:07]  Representative, thanks for joining us.
[00:01:09]  Welcome to the program.
[00:01:10]  Good morning.
[00:01:11]  Thank you.
[00:01:11]  It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:01:13]  I wanted to get your thoughts on the government shutdown.
[00:01:15]  It's the third day now and bring to your attention the poll that the Washington Post did of asking who they think is most to blame.
[00:01:27]  And it came out 47% blaming President Trump and Republicans in Congress as compared to 30% Democrats in Congress.
[00:01:36]  What are your thoughts on that?
[00:01:38]  I've been in Congress now 15 years.
[00:01:41]  This is my eighth term.
[00:01:43]  I'm a chairman on the Appropriations Committee, as you properly allude to.
[00:01:46]  I chair the Energy and Water Subcommittee.
[00:01:49]  But I never lie to the American people and I never lie to my constituents.
[00:01:54]  So I'm going to be abundantly clear to Republicans, to Democrats, to Independents, to the people of this country.
[00:02:02]  I am outraged at the Democratic Party for the farce, the lies that they have done in this government shutdown.
[00:02:11]  And there's something when you serve.
[00:02:14]  The truth about what is going on and the process to me is so critically, critically important.
[00:02:22]  This is why we have such an erosion in public confidence.
[00:02:26]  People get out and literally spread myth-screws.
[00:02:30]  I've listened to some of the calls that you've gotten this morning.
[00:02:33]  So today, I'm going to be absolutely straightforward, lay out the process with you, take any phone calls, but I will not lie about this.
[00:02:44]  So we've got the truth.
[00:02:45]  You've got policy.
[00:02:46]  There's a time to be partisan.
[00:02:48]  But let me be clear.
[00:02:49]  The Democrats shut the government down.
[00:02:53]  It's clear.
[00:02:54]  It is factual.
[00:02:55]  The House of Representatives passed a relatively clean continuing resolution.
[00:02:59]  I'm glad to go into that.
[00:03:01]  The fiscal year ended on September 30th.
[00:03:05]  Long before that, we passed a continuing resolution to November 20th, which in effect allows us to continue to negotiate on appropriation bills.
[00:03:15]  Some of your earlier callers are talking about Obamacare, this and that.
[00:03:19]  This is appropriations.
[00:03:21]  Most of the Affordable Care Act, 85% of it, is on the mandatory side.
[00:03:27]  It's not even affected by appropriations.
[00:03:31]  Well, Congressman, let's focus on the truth.
[00:03:33]  Sure.
[00:03:33]  Let's talk about Obamacare and talk specifically about the extensions of those subsidies.
[00:03:40]  And as you know, KFF is estimating that premiums, out-of-pocket premiums will go up by 75% if those subsidies aren't extended.
[00:03:50]  Where do you stand on that point specifically?
[00:03:53]  The way I stand on that point is extraneous, has nothing to do with this.
[00:03:58]  This is the farce put on by the Democratic Party to the American people.
[00:04:02]  These are appropriation bills.
[00:04:05]  These are the 12 bills that we pass every year or not if we fail and get into a shutdown or a continuing resolution.
[00:04:13]  Any other extraneous things are irrelevant to this.
[00:04:16]  The Democrats went out, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
[00:04:20]  They've hurt their credibility, not only with the American people.
[00:04:23]  This is going to linger on.
[00:04:25]  I have to stress this after this, because even though I'm a very forgiving person, I cannot sit back and lie.
[00:04:32]  When the Republicans shut the government down, please listen to me.
[00:04:36]  In 2013, we were wrong.
[00:04:38]  We should have never done that.
[00:04:40]  We should have never shut the government down.
[00:04:42]  What was that about?
[00:04:43]  You said Obamacare, 85% of it was under mandatory spending.
[00:04:47]  I remember sitting with my hands in my head saying, why did we do this?
[00:04:52]  It hurt the country then.
[00:04:53]  It was wrong then.
[00:04:54]  Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries had a clean, continuing resolution that Democrats, three Democrats in the Senate have joined.
[00:05:02]  They will have to cave.
[00:05:04]  You talk about polls and you talk about these other subsidies.
[00:05:08]  We can sit down and talk through these things, negotiate through these things, but they are extraneous, completely outside the appropriations process.
[00:05:17]  And Congressman Orange.
[00:05:19]  You say it's extraneous, but the Democrats are saying that they have tried to get these extended.
[00:05:26]  Republicans have refused, that this is the only chance they have to get them extended before open enrollment starts November 1st.
[00:05:34]  What do you think of that?
[00:05:35]  And if this came to a vote, would you vote to extend Obamacare subsidies?
[00:05:43]  I will vote for a clean, continuing resolution.
[00:05:46]  I'm an appropriator.
[00:05:48]  That is my job.
[00:05:48]  I chair the Energy and Water Subcommittee.
[00:05:51]  I'm America's Energy Member of Congress.
[00:05:53]  I work with Republicans, Democrats, Independents, members of the House, members of all administrations.
[00:05:59]  I've worked with the Obama, Trump, Biden, and now Trump administrations on energy.
[00:06:05]  That's what I do on appropriations.
[00:06:08]  The saddest thing about all this, if I can impart something to your listeners, whether they're Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, I'm going to stand on the truth.
[00:06:17]  You've got to keep it clean and simple and on point.
[00:06:22]  We've got to keep the government open.
[00:06:24]  It's never a good idea to shut the government down.
[00:06:27]  This is costing the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars a day.
[00:06:32]  It put federal workers, it puts our troops in a very difficult position.
[00:06:36]  By the way, guess who gets paid under the Constitution?
[00:06:39]  Members of Congress.
[00:06:40]  That's outrageous.
[00:06:41]  That's why I stopped my pay.
[00:06:43]  But in reality, we go through this farce.
[00:06:46]  So, Congressman, I guess we should take that as a no, that you would be against extending subsidies on Obamacare if you had to vote on that right now.
[00:06:57]  I will take a look at what is proposed at that time.
[00:07:01]  But once again, the Democrats needed an issue to bring into the argument that was extraneous and it's farcial.
[00:07:09]  One thing I respect, I respect partisan politics.
[00:07:13]  I respect debates over policy, where you stand, but I do not respect lying to the American people.
[00:07:20]  That's what the Democrats have done, plain and simple on this.
[00:07:23]  And Mimi, I've got to say this.
[00:07:25]  You never play fast and loose with the American Republic.
[00:07:30]  You keep the government open.
[00:07:32]  Think about it this way.
[00:07:34]  All across America, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, partisans, and nonpartisans go to work every day.
[00:07:40]  They pay their taxes.
[00:07:42]  They get around the water cooler.
[00:07:43]  They may argue about their favorite sports teams or their favorite or not favorite president, but they get their job done.
[00:07:50]  They don't shut down the business and then say, let's reopen it and let's hurt it.
[00:07:54]  That's what the Democrats have done.
[00:07:56]  They're proud of this shutdown.
[00:07:58]  This is Chuck Schumer, who basically has been on record, time untold, he was right the last time.
[00:08:05]  He kept it open.
[00:08:06]  You keep it open and you talk.
[00:08:08]  Doesn't mean that I'm right all the time or my party's right all the time, but you keep talking and working through these things.
[00:08:14]  And we look at the big beautiful bill.
[00:08:16]  I've got to talk about this one last thing.
[00:08:18]  Two things you never want to do is shut the government down or, God forbid, default on the national debt.
[00:08:24]  Now, in the big beautiful bill, we raised the national debt.
[00:08:28]  The Democrats voted against that, so it could be difficult and say, well, they voted to default on our national debt.
[00:08:34]  But candidly, I'm going to be honest, I get as many calls from Republicans that say, well, just shut it down.
[00:08:40]  That is irresponsible to the American people.
[00:08:43]  We've got to keep the full faith and credit of the United States strong, and we owe it to the American people, to the American Republic.
[00:08:49]  It's a higher calling.
[00:08:51]  It's beyond just being partisan or being a representative of your district.
[00:08:55]  You've got to keep Mimi, the government open.