Pfluger on Michael Knowles Show: "Chuck Schumer Wants Illegal Alien Healthcare More Than Military Readiness"
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As America's military families face uncertainty and our adversaries watch closely, Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger slammed the Democrat-led government shutdown during an exclusive appearance on The Michael Knowles Show on The Daily Wire today. Chairman Pfluger pulled no punches in describing how Senate Democrats' obstruction is directly undermining America's national security and forcing military commanders to focus on feeding their troops instead of preparing them for combat.
As we enter Week 3 of the shutdown, Senate Democrats have voted eight times to keep the government closed—and the crisis has reached a boiling point. The Left is holding military families hostage for one reason: they want to force taxpayers to fund healthcare for illegal aliens. While China prepares for war and Iran arms its proxies, Senate Democrats are forcing America's military to stand down.
The RSC Chairman warned that the damage to military readiness doesn't end when the government reopens—it will take months to recover the training hours lost, rebuild unit cohesion, and restore the combat edge that's being eroded with each passing day.
Watch the full interview on Rumble and see highlights from the conversation below:
Highlights from the exclusive interview on The Michael Knowles Show:
Chairman Pfluger: “You heard a senior Democrat aide say, ‘until planes fall out of the sky, we're not going to open the government back up.’ They're owning it 100% and how disgusting of a comment that was. We did our job in the House and now Senate Democrats under Chuck Schumer's distasteful leadership have voted eight times to not fund the government, to not fund the military.”
Chairman Pfluger: “I'm a veteran. I flew combat missions in Iraq and Syria. I was on active duty during several shutdowns. They hurt readiness. They hurt your ability to focus on the threat, on the missions, because now commanders are having to worry about their troops, their young enlisted and young officers, how they're going to put food on the table and take care of their families. They're not worried about doing the mission. They're worried about taking care of their family, and rightfully so. So absolutely, it hurts mission readiness. It hurts our focus, and it hurts our national security.”
Chairman Pfluger: “This is political theater at its very worst. Military men and women will miss a paycheck eventually. I'd like to know where my Democrat colleagues are, those that served and the veterans on the Democrat side. Where are they? Why are they not stepping up right now and rising above the noise and doing the right thing? Because guess what? When Nancy Pelosi was Speaker and when Joe Biden was President, Republicans didn't shut the government down. And where are they? Where are they right now? Why are they not doing the right thing? I'm so disappointed in them.”
Chairman Pfluger: “Mike Johnson is doing a great job. House Republicans have done our job. We've voted to fund the government. It's the simplest thing. This was a Joe Biden budget, or an auto pen signed budget. So this is a budget that Democrats already voted on. So how do they now come to us and say, ‘well, we can't vote on it now because...’ Well, no actually this was Biden's budget. Number one, Senate Democrats need to get over their theater and just do the right thing.”
Chairman Pfluger: “The Democrats want us to fund illegal aliens’ healthcare, which we've said absolutely not. These are hundreds of billions of dollars in waste.”