Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Interview with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-IL)
Interview
"Well, Anderson, it's a sad situation that we're in because we have a GOP majority with a speaker that cannot get his own party to do the simple work of funding a continuing resolution. And the thing is, Anderson, we have plenty of votes to avert a shutdown, with a clean continuing resolution that keeps the government funded until the Republicans can get their act together on appropriations bills.
So this is not a situation that has to happen. If it happens that we have a shutdown, it looks increasingly likely, it is a Republican shutdown and it has tremendous consequences for people across the country, from people not being able to get the assistance they need to make sure that their security is working properly, cafeteria workers not being able to get their paychecks.
It has tremendous consequences, and it is all because, Anderson, the Republicans have been trying to pass this extreme agenda, a nationwide abortion ban, severe cuts to Social Security. They can't get it through, so now, they are holding the government funding hostage and the American people hostage.
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Well, that's exactly what should happen. So if the Senate sends over something to us, then we can use -- either Kevin McCarthy can put it on the floor and allow Republicans to vote with us because I think we would have enough Republicans to pass that, or we could use a discharge petition, and we just need a handful of Republicans to vote with all Democrats on a continuing resolution.
And listen, we'd like to have that disaster relief aid in there. We'd like to have Ukraine funding, but at a minimum, it should be the clean continuing resolution to fund the government. No policy riders, no bad, you know -- no other bad immigration policy, nothing but just fund the government.
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Well, I'm not going to speak about the conversation specifically, but I will tell you that at the Progressive Caucus, and you know, we have 103 members, we had a very strong discussion at the executive board a week ago. And then we had another discussion just yesterday with the full membership.
And I think what people feel is that Kevin McCarthy has led us into this Republican shutdown. Kevin McCarthy started an impeachment, a baseless impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Senator McCarthy has turned the gavel over to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz depending on the day, and we have no interest in saving Kevin McCarthy.
We do have an interest in making sure that government continues to function that people can get the services that they need, and at the end of the day, we are not going to save Republicans -- we are not going to save the speaker, because he has been a completely untrustworthy negotiator.
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Well, the only -- I mean, the problem, Anderson is that he's not a reliable negotiator. He made a deal with the president, then he immediately broke it. So for us, I think we would need to write in power sharing into the rules of the House.
But listen, we're not even going there right now. What we're focused on is, let's get through the shutdown. Let's make sure that government functions because Republicans have shown they can't govern. I mean, there's a civil war going on over on that side. We have said we are willing to fund the government with a clean continuing resolution, ideally, with the disaster relief and the Ukraine money, but they're not even willing to do that.
So we have to get through the situation, and then I think the Republicans have got to get it together and figure out if they've got a majority. Do they have a speaker that can actually control that majority? Because that is what governing is about.
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