RSC Chairman Pfluger Slams the Democrats for Holding the Government Hostage on the Ben Shapiro Show

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (TX-11) appeared on the Daily Wire Ben Shapiro Show, where he exposed the Democrats' ruthless political calculation: they are deliberately keeping the government closed to advance their radical agenda while military readiness deteriorates, nutrition programs for vulnerable families shut down, and thousands of federal employees go without paychecks.

Chairman Pfluger reiterated that this is what happens when a political party is hijacked by the far-Left: today's Democrat Party has been consumed by its radical flank, a party so extreme it now backs a social Marxist for mayor of New York City.

Watch the full interview on the Ben Shapiro Show here.

Read highlights from Chairman Pfluger below:

Chairman Pfluger on Military Readiness Impact by Shutdown:
"It's so detrimental. I've been there before as a fighter pilot having to go through these types of shutdowns and I’'ll say just on the readiness side of it the exercises that are are canceled, the readiness that is decreased, the stress that commanders now face because instead of focusing on the mission now really what they're focused on is trying to make sure that their families can put food on the table so it takes all of their attention away from the the job that we need them to be doing. Let's just kind of break it down to the most basic level, you have families who are currently on food stamps which by the way is a crime in our military to have that happen, so now let's say a soldiers deployed somewhere around the world and they have a new baby at home and their spouse is asking “Are we going to get a paycheck? How am I going to pay for rent? How are we going to put gas in the tank? How are we going to put food on the table this month?” It is so stressful to imagine that situation wherever they're deployed. They can't focus on the mission, they're having to focus on making sure that they can have some sort of other means to support them. It's just it's tragic. I've called on my veteran colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stand up, to do the right thing, to actually show some leadership, and they refuse."

Chairman Pfluger on Senate Democrats’ Selfish Shutdown Strategy:
“Talking to some Republican Senators, I think it's probably more prevalent in the Senate right now that they feel like Chuck Schumer is selfish, that he has done this for his own political future. That's obvious. I mean, we can see that. So it seems to be very prevalent in the Senate. But when you hear Democrat House members get up and talk, I mean, their talking points are so weak. They're trying to concoct some sort of story of why they didn't vote in the first place. I mean, the House Republicans did our job. By the way, Ben, I was there under Pelosi and Biden. We were there when we had to pass multiple CRs. Instead of leveraging like they're doing, the American family, we did the right thing. And that was hard. I had to come back to the district and tell my district why, even though we terribly disagreed with Biden's spending plans, we made adult decisions.”

Chairman Pfluger on the Radicalization of the Democrat Party:
“Like you said, there are no blue dogs. Maybe one. Maybe Henry Cuellar could fall into that category. But there's no diversity of thought. You're absolutely right. Mamdani and the radical side, because AOC runs the Senate now, apparently, has really taken root and has pulled the rest of the Democrat Party over to that side. It's sad for our country. As a Republican, I think that our policy is the only policy right now that strengthens our economy, strengthens the family, strengthens the military, strengthens national defense, and they have no alternative. They're not even competing on any sort of level because it's so radical. I mean, just take men in women's sports, for example. I mean, that isn't even a 1 percent issue. It's less than that. And yet that's the token of their social platform. So it's sad. I think New York City is about to go through a very, very tough time to have, as you said, an openly jihadist, socialist Marxist that's going to be elected who is antisemitic, which is very scary in New York City, and anti-capitalist, which is this. New York City should be the crown jewel of capitalism throughout the world. And they're about to go through a very tough time.”