House Republican Castigates GOP Hardliners Such as Matt Gaetz For Being ‘Stuck On Stupid’ Amid Looming Government Shutdown

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) criticized the handful of lawmakers in his conference who are poised to block efforts to avert a government shutdown beginning Oct. 1.

Congress and the White House must agree on legislation to keep the government funded beyond the end of September. However, House Republicans have been in complete disarray in recent weeks as they have been unable to agree even among themselves.

On Tuesday, the Senate unveiled a short-term bipartisan stopgap funding bill that would – if passed by the House and signed by President Joe Biden – keep the government funded through Nov. 17.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) now faces pressure to bring the measure (or something like it) to the House floor.

Kaitlan Collins, host of CNN’s The Source, asked Lawler about this palace intrigue on Tuesday night.

“Do you believe that the votes are there, or is it clear to you what the strategy is exactly tonight?” she inquired.

“Well, we’re gonna work like heck to pass it,” he replied. “I’ve been very clear from the start that I will not support a government shutdown, that we need to do everything we can to avoid one. Nobody wins in a government shutdown. And in fact, the American people are gonna be the ones that get hurt.”

Lawler went on to single out Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as a particularly irksome troublemaker.

“Two weeks ago, the speaker came forth with a proposal that would reduce spending by 8% in the 30-day continuing resolution, as well as enact most of the provisions of HR2 to deal with our border crisis,” Lawler continued. “Unfortunately, folks like Matt Gaetz chose to oppose that for some ridiculous reason.”

Gaetz has repeatedly said he will oppose continuing resolutions as vehicles for funding the federal government. Instead, he and McCarthy struck a deal in January to pass single-subject appropriations bills. In exchange, Gaetz withdrew his opposition to McCarthy’s speakership bid, thus allowing him to ascend to the post.

“McCarthy can’t lose more than four votes,” Collins noted. “There’s already four hardliners saying they will not pass that, no matter how much money is in it or whatever. So, what is the plan on Friday night when that fails?”

Lawler replied that House Republicans are currently unable to govern because a handful of members are being blockheaded:

Look, if that fails, obviously, the only way forward is with a bipartisan CR. Any final continuing resolution would, of course, be bipartisan because the Democrats control the Senate. The president is a Democrat. He’s gonna need to sign off on it.

But obviously, when you’re trying to pass something through the House, you wanna work as a conference. The American people elected a House Republican majority to serve as a check and balance and to be able to govern. And some of my colleagues have, frankly, been stuck on stupid, and refuse to do what we were elected to do. against the vast majority of the conference, who have been working to avoid a shutdown.

Watch above via CNN.