What The Government Owes The People

Last month, House Republicans passed a bill to keep the government open. It would pay our troops and federal employees, protect essential services for families, and give Congress time to finish its regular budgeting process. The bill was straightforward: No partisan gimmicks. No policy changes. No poison pills. It simply continued funding at levels that Democrats themselves previously supported.

Instead of meeting that good-faith effort, most of my Democratic colleagues chose gridlock. Because of the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule, at least seven Democrats must join Republicans to keep the government open. Sensing their filibuster leverage, Senate Democrats demanded a different deal to keep government open: $1.5 trillion of partisan spending wrapped in health care language. Since then, they’ve voted against our straightforward funding bill over and over. The government remains shut down.

I get it. Democrats see shutting down government as a chance to extract sweeping policy wins. Many are worried about primary challengers who claim they aren’t fighting Republicans hard enough. But to say Republicans are the ones shutting down the government — when it’s Democrats refusing to keep it open unless they get massive policy concessions — is like moving the goalposts at the last minute and then blaming the other team for not chasing them.

Unfortunately, the results aren’t a game. Hundreds of thousands of military families will miss a paycheck next week. These are service members who will report for duty but will see their bank accounts empty. Air traffic controllers and TSA officers work unpaid, with some airports already experiencing delays and unmanned towers. Here in western Colorado, our agriculture community is feeling it, too. After last summer’s wildfires, ranchers are still waiting for federal support to help with recovery.

These aren’t hypothetical inconveniences. They’re real strains on people who serve, protect, and put food on our tables.

Government shutdowns are inefficient. They’re also breaches of trust. People deserve a government that is competent, steady, and serious about the work it’s been given. The Founders understood that. In The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the “firmness and efficiency” are essential not only to good government, but to securing our rights. Our country’s success depends on competence, accountability, and the quiet work of principled self-government.

And that’s really what this comes down to: what kind of government people should expect, and what they should value.

I’ve only been in Congress a short time. But I’ve noticed that Washington talks a lot about how much we’re spending, and far less about what we’re getting in return. That seems backward. Take health care, which is the issue my Democratic colleagues point to in justifying why they’re shutting down the government. It’s an important issue to me, and I’m doing more than just talking about it: I’m an original co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to temporarily extend tax credits that help families afford coverage.

But I’m deeply uneasy about Democratic demands to extend it indefinitely. Layering subsidies on top of top of old problems isn’t good public policy. The Affordable Care Act expanded insurance coverage, but it didn’t deliver on its core promise to make care more affordable for everyday Americans. Costs keep rising. Premiums have soared. Nearly half of adults say they struggle to afford care, and most worry about what happens when today’s temporary subsidies expire.

Skyrocketing health care premiums are a symptom; the underlying drivers of those costs are the cause. Real reform means addressing those root causes, not layering massive subsidies on top of old problems.

These are important discussions to be having, and I want to have them. But the discussions belong in a government that’s open and functioning. I respectfully urge my Democratic colleagues to adopt the straightforward bill we passed in the House and reopen the government. Let’s get to work on a government that works efficiently, spends wisely, and delivers results.