Washington, D.C. – This morning, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” with Joe Kernen and Becky Quick. The Senator discussed ongoing negotiations and a possible end to the Schumer Shutdown that has held the American people hostage for now 35 days.
Senator Mullin has also been providing regular updates and explanations, direct to the American people, on his various social media platforms: X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
The full interview can be found here.
On the Democrats holding the American people hostage for 35 days:
“They’ve been looking for an off ramp. They thought after the ‘No Kings’ rally they would have an off ramp. Unfortunately, Chuck Schumer felt like it tightened their grip, that they couldn’t allow the Dems to release their hold on the government… because they were afraid if they opened the government up before today, that their base wouldn’t show up and vote in Virginia and New Jersey, where we have tight elections.”
On Democrats wanting to break from Chuck Schumer:
“But after today, the negotiations to keep Dick Durbin from voting with us last week, which would have caused a jailbreak, because he’s the number two Democrat in the Senate. He had expressed concerns about continuing keeping the federal government closed.”
On vote timing and ending the Schumer Shutdown:
“…We’ll probably have the vote in in the Senate either tomorrow night or Thursday. Then the House has got to come back, because we’re going to make some changes to it. We’ve got to change the date. And there’s discussions about maybe putting three appropriation bills on the CR too… I think we’ll be open by Sunday.”
On Senator Fetterman doing the right thing for the American people:
“What John Fetterman is doing is just telling the truth. But the guy is a very independent thinker. I mean, think about, look at the way he dresses. He walks to his own drum. He’s unapologetic… And the guy just says the truth. I mean, he does what’s on his heart. He feels it, and we all respect that. And who would have thought, as tough as that race was in Pennsylvania, that John Fetterman would be the voice of reason in the Democrat party.”
On the Democrats forcing federal workers to find alternate sources of income:
“… Who blames TSA workers for taking personal time off so they can go earn some income? Who blames the air traffic controllers for taking some personal time off so they can go earn some income? They’ve been without a paycheck for a month now.”
On the filibuster and preventing future shutdowns:
“We’ve got to seriously take a look at how to prevent future shutdowns. There’s got to be a trigger that takes place. I’m not for getting rid of the filibuster as a whole, but maybe there’s some triggers after 10 days, Becky, that if the government is shut down for more than 10 days, that there’s some small concessions that are put in place to reopen the essential part of the government and get these people paid until Congress can work out their differences.”
“There needs to be serious conversations moving forward, because when parties are using the American people as, ‘leverage’, that’s what the Democrat Party leadership has said for the last 35 days, that’s a problem, because we’re playing with people’s lives. So, this isn’t a policy fight, Becky, this is a political fight that the Democrats are fighting, and we’re trying to have a policy discussion.”
On Schumer Shutdown impacts on Oklahoma:
“I spoke to Governor Stitt about this on Thursday, and he was saying, ‘Listen, the state’s making some extra precautions, working with the tribes, making sure that we’re having a benefits.’ I was talking to church leaders. One church group in Muskogee, Oklahoma, fed 120 people last night, that is unheard of… The governor said, ‘Yes, this is awful. We have some funds we’re going to be using to fill the programs, but it’s given us, for the first time, an opportunity to look underneath the hood, and we’re discovering all types of fraud at the state level that we’re able to cut right now because of the shutdown.’”
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