U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed off ABC host Martha Raddatz’s attempt Sunday to pin the government shutdown on Republicans.
The shutdown of the federal government began Oct. 1 after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rallied nearly all Senate Democrats to block a bipartisan funding bill. Martha Raddatz pressed Bessent on the shutdown’s impact, asking whether the president should meet with Democrats to end the standoff during an interview on “This Week.”
“People are suffering, federal employees are starting to go to food banks. Any light at the end of the tunnel on that? Should the president be meeting with Democrats again?” Raddatz asked Bessent.
“What good does it do, Martha? They’ve dug in. The American people are a hostage to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries’s poll numbers, ’cause what’s changed between now and the last time there was a clean continuing resolution is Chuck Schumer has tanked in the polls,” Bessent responded. “Both of the two guys from Brooklyn, like I call ’em, are worried about being primaried from the left. 52 Republican senators have voted 11 times to reopen the government, three brave moderate Democrats have come across the aisle. So, you know, I call on moderate Democratic senators to end this craziness. You’ll be heroes.”
When Raddatz attempted to raise additional shutdown concerns and noted Republicans control Washington, Bessent didn’t hold back.
“What can we do? What can we do for this desperate act that we can call on them to change their minds? Because I can tell you, the 1.5 trillion in spending that they’re calling for, that’s not on the table. We inherited a mess,” Bessent said. “We inherited the worst budget deficit-to-GDP when we weren’t in a recession and we weren’t at war. It was 6.4, 6.5%. We’ve managed to bring that down to 5.9%. And we’re not gonna let them be irresponsible with the budget again.”
The Congressional Budget Office reported the federal budget deficit hit 6.4% of GDP in fiscal year 2024, one of the highest peacetime levels in U.S. history. The nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which seeks to raise public awareness of the nation’s fiscal issues, confirmed the same figure, noting it occurred despite low unemployment and steady economic growth. (RELATED: Democrats Blocking Federal Paychecks During Shutdown Splinter When Asked If They’re Cashing Their Own)
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman urged his party Thursday to “cut the shit” and end the ongoing government shutdown. He criticized Schumer for blocking pay for federal workers and troops, warning that the shutdown strategy is backfiring as its impact deepens nationwide.
Fetterman joined two other Democrats in backing a GOP-led bill to pay federal workers and military personnel during the shutdown. The measure fell short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold after most of their Democratic colleagues voted against it.
Democrats have insisted that any funding deal must include an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies as well as several other partisan policy priorities.
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