Fetterman Apologizes For Dems Who Can’t Get ‘S**t’ Together Amid Shutdown
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) issued an apology Thursday on behalf of Senate Democrats for their failure to vote to end the ongoing government shutdown.
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Fetterman expressed frustration that federal workers remain unpaid and that many families may struggle to feed their children as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are set to expire.
He said he was sorry for the situation and acknowledged his party’s role in the stalemate.
“And like I said, to all of the viewers, I’m apologizing that we can’t even get our s— together and just open up our government,” Fetterman said,
The government shutdown has entered its fourth week, with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate still deadlocked over spending legislation to start the new fiscal year. The stalemate is now jeopardizing the SNAP, also known as food stamps, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture warns could leave roughly 42 million Americans without benefits if the shutdown continues.
New SNAP funding was supposed to be distributed Nov. 1.
In his interview with Raju, Fetterman said he expects to witness the effects of the SNAP funding lapse firsthand when he returns home to Pennsylvania.
“I’m saying that I’ll witness it firsthand,” he said. “My wife, Giselle, she develops the Free Store in our community. It distributes food three times a week and her lines have already got longer. And now, I will encounter people that have no SNAP benefits starting on Saturday, and I don’t have an explanation for them.”
He then proceeded to apologize on behalf of his Senate Democratic colleagues.
“All I could say is I’m sorry. It’s an absolute failure — what occurred here for the last month — and now things are really going to land,” Fetterman said. “And imagine being a parent with a couple kids and how you’re going to fill the refrigerator and pack their lunches and get on with their lives when the things that they’ve depended on now is gone because we can’t even agree to just open things up.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who has consistently voted for a continuing resolution that would fund and reopen the government, then criticized his party for failing to reach an agreement with majority Republicans.
“If a Democrat — you know, we’re not allowed to just open this up, I mean, then our party has bigger problems than I thought we might have already. It’s like, that’s not controversial. Pay everybody,” he said, “And you have our workers here borrowed over a third of a billion dollars to pay their own bills.”
He added: “Like, it’s a failure.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has instructed his caucus to keep the government shut down, raged at President Donald Trump in a video posted to social media on Wednesday as Americans and the media turn against his party.
“Donald Trump is a vindictive and heartless man. Never before in American history has a president cut off SNAP during a shutdown, including Trump in his first term,” Schumer said in his post.
“But now he is manufacturing a hunger crisis to bludgeon the American people so he doesn’t have to fix healthcare,” he added.
A president cannot create budgets out of thin air; spending bills must be written and passed by Congress. The president’s role, then, is to either sign them into law or veto them.
Schumer and Democrats have been demanding Congress continue subsidizing Obamacare they extended the subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic but chose to time-limit them; they are now set to expire in December.
Republican leaders have said they are willing to negotiate new subsidies for Obamacare – a program which Democrats a decade ago said would finally “fix” the country’s healthcare system – but not until a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government is passed.
House fails to adopt Iran war powers resolution
The House on Thursday failed to adopt a war powers resolution that attempted to curtail President Donald Trump's military actions in Iran.
It failed by a vote of 212-219. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson bucked GOP leaders by voting in favor; four Democrats voted against the resolution: Reps. Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, Greg Landsman and Juan Vargas.
The resolution, which only expresses the sentiment of Congress, called on the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force is enacted.
The measure was non-binding and not subject to the president's signature or veto.
Speaker Mike Johnson argued Wednesday that the United States is "not at war" but only engaged in a "defensive operation" in Iran.
“We're not at war right now,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “We're in -- four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation."
Later on Wednesday, Trump contradicted Johnson, repeatedly referring to the conflict in Iran as a "war" hours after Johnson said it wasn't.
Sitting next to Johnson during a roundtable on energy prices, Trump said "we're doing very well on -- on the war front, to put it mildly."
A U.S. Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launches from an undisclosed location in support Operation Epic Fury.
US Army
Johnson had said that the "passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea."
"It would empower our enemies. It would kneecap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander in chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe," he said Wednesday.
On Wednesday Senate Democrats failed to meet a 51-vote threshold on an alternate Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Rand Paul. The resolution failed behind a 47-53 tally.
Ilhan Omar Guest Arrested After Demonstrating During Trump’s SOTU
One of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s invited guests was arrested Tuesday night after demonstrating during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, according to U.S. Capitol Police. Aliya M. Rahman, 43, of Minneapolis, was taken into custody after she stood and refused repeated orders to sit down in the House gallery.
“All State of the Union tickets clearly explain that demonstrating is prohibited,” Capitol Police said in a statement. “At approximately 10:07 p.m., a person in the House Gallery started demonstrating during tonight’s State of the Union Address. The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders,” The New York Times
reported.
“It is illegal to disrupt the Congress and demonstrate in the Congressional Buildings, so 43-year-old Aliya M. Rahman of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was arrested for D.C. Code §10-503.16 — Unlawful Conduct, Disruption of Congress,” the statement added.
Rahman was later issued a citation release, which police described as routine.
Omar, D-Minn., invited Rahman as one of four guests attending the address. The Minnesota Democrat has been critical of Trump’s immigration enforcement policies and previously described Rahman as someone seeking accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Rahman made headlines in January after being detained by ICE officers in Minneapolis. Federal officials said she ignored repeated commands to move her vehicle away from an active enforcement scene and interfered with agents. Authorities said she was arrested after refusing to comply and engaging in obstructive conduct.
Rahman and her attorney have disputed that account.
In a statement to Newsweek following Tuesday’s arrest, her attorney, Alexa Van Brunt, said Rahman was targeted.
“Aliya Rahman was targeted at the State of the Union last night,” Van Brunt said. “After standing up in silence during the speech, Aliya was quickly taken away and arrested for ‘unlawful conduct’ and released just before 4 a.m. today. There is nothing unlawful about standing in silence and this is a blatant abuse of power. She was not disruptive or disrespectful. She was not holding a sign, making gestures, or wearing protest gear. She was simply standing in silence.”
Capitol Police said demonstrating of any kind is prohibited inside the chamber during a joint session of Congress.
Rahman previously told MS Now that attending the address felt necessary.
“I almost don’t feel like it was a choice,” she said. “I’m just so painfully aware that what happened to me is a very common experience in this country, except for the part where I got out and I got to come back to my community.”
“Honestly, the emotional toll of it is the reason that I think it’s still important to come be in front of people who are happy this happened to me or think I deserve worse,” she added.
The arrest came as Trump used the address to emphasize border security and immigration enforcement.
Rep. Omar responded to the arrest.
“My guest, Aliya Rahman, stood up silently in the gallery during the president’s speech for a short period of time, part of which other guests were also standing. For that, she was forcibly removed, despite warning officers about her injured shoulders and ultimately charged with ‘Unlawful Conduct,’” she said in a press release on her official website.
“Reports indicate she was aggressively handled until someone intervened to secure medical attention. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment and later booked at the United States Capitol Police headquarters, the representative said.
“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy. I am calling for a full explanation of why this arrest occurred, she said.
