The Schumer Shutdown

House Republicans did our job. On September 19th, the House passed a clean bill to keep the government open. Repeated stonewalling by Senate Democrats and their desire to give taxpayer-funded healthcare to individuals illegally in the U.S. is the reason why the government remains shut down.

Earlier this week, I joined my fellow Republican colleagues from Michigan in urging our Senators, Gary Peters and Elisa Slotkin, to do their job and stop voting against reopening the government. This letter reminds our senators that they missed five separate opportunities to end this shutdown – despite having supported an extremely similar measure just last year. This shutdown was entirely avoidable, and I encourage my fellow Michiganders in the Senate to think of the American people who rely on federal services.

Because of the Schumer Shutdown, the men and women serving our nation will not receive a paycheck. As a reminder, I have introduced legislation to pay our Homeland Security law enforcement and cosponsored legislation to pay our troops in the event of a shutdown. Additionally, I have also personally requested that I not be paid until the men and women serving our nation are.

Last week, I hosted a telephone town hall with thousands of residents across Southwest Michigan. I wanted to hear directly from constituents about the issues that matter the most to them and provide an update on the lapse in government funding. We had a wide-ranging conversation on the House-passed continuing resolution, my work to protect Social Security and Medicare, the Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act, and the repowering of the Palisades Nuclear Plant.

Since March, I have reached out to more than 150,000 constituents across Michigan’s 4th Congressional District through telephone town halls. These conversations help me connect with every community across Southwest Michigan while also helping me serve constituents more effectively. If you would like to participate in future telephone town halls, please visit Huizenga.House.Gov to sign up!

If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Portage at (269) 569-8595.