GOP Senator Blames Shutdown on ‘Lack of Trust’ As Trump’s Budget Chief Tries to Pull ‘Backdoor Move’ on Dems

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) blamed the government shutdown on a “lack of trust” stemming from the Trump administration pulling “backdoor moves” on Democrats.

While talking to reporters on the streets of Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Murkowski explained that she understood the frustrations of the Democratic Party that led to the government shutdown. The senator specifically mentioned Russ Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, nominated by President Donald Trump.

Vought’s actions, she argued, were the source of mistrust between the parties that had prevented them from agreeing on a budget bill.

“If you’re a Democrat,” Murkowski said, “You’re looking at it and you’re saying, ‘Why am I going to try to be helpful if Mr. Vought and OMB is just gonna do a backdoor move and rescind what we’ve been working on?’ So yeah, there’s a lack of trust. Does it make it harder to come to terms on hard things like a government shutdown? Absolutely.”

Asked if she understood why Democrats were “hesitant” to vote for a GOP spending bill, the senator said, “Sure I do.”

“I look back and I say, I see it,” Murkowski continued. “I see it. When we say that we have authorized, we have appropriated to, and then you have the administration come in and say, ‘Not on this one.’ And this is where I spoke out very strongly against this whole pocket rescission because not only did the administration do it, but then they didn’t give, they set it up in such a way that our hands were tied in being able to respond; so we’re stuck with it.

“The appropriations process is being run over and that, to me, is absolutely unacceptable.”

Watch the clip above.