U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Monday evening to discuss ongoing negotiations in the Senate regarding the government shutdown, the impact of funding lapses on federal programs, and debates over the legislative filibuster.
During the interview, Mullin addressed expectations that Senate Democrats may soon agree to reopen the government. He stated, “The Democrats that I spoke with have been very clear that they want to open it back up. Schumer was afraid that they open it back up, that they would lose momentum in those races, that their voters would stay home, and they didn’t think the optics were good for them to open it back up until after the election. You know, we’ve heard, Kaitlan, that several Democrats have misspoke by saying that the people are leveraged, that it only gets better for them. We don’t have to go through the names. You guys have heard all the names; but at the end of the day, this has all been about politics, and so the political elections are over and they’re going to look for an off ramp.
“The Hill reported that the Democrats feel like now their neck is in a guillotine; that they can’t let up now…
“Schumer told Dick Durbin that ‘listen, after the election, we’ll let you guys go, let you vote on how you want to vote, and open the government back up.’”
Mullin also discussed efforts to restore funding for programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which has been affected by lapses in government funding. He said: “It’s an easy way to pay all of it, Kaitlan, open the government back up. We’re not asking the Democrats to do anything they haven’t done before. Vote for the same CR they voted for four other times. That’s simple. Why they’re trying to put the blame on the President of the United States by saying that he should fund it. We are the funders of the government. We control the purse strings. Congress does, not the executive branch, the legislative branch. The best way to make sure those programs are funded is that we open the government back up. We’re going to vote tomorrow for the 14th time for an opportunity for the Democrats to open it up and guess what, not half, but 100% of the SNAP program would be funded if the Democrats voted yes.”
On calls from former President Trump and others within his party regarding changes or elimination of Senate rules such as ending legislative filibusters—a procedure requiring a supermajority for most legislation—Mullin commented: “I get people have a knee jerk reaction, want to have extraordinary measures. The Democrats wanted to get rid of the filibuster. We wanted to get rid of the filibuster in the past. The truth is, it’s there to protect; but if you look at difference why Democrats want to get rid of filibuster and why we do…We want to get rid of it…so we can govern…When you start looking at Democrats…they would use it [ending filibuster]…to pack courts…federalize elections…go after fossil energy…making Washington D.C a state.There’s a difference between way we want govern and way they want change politics.
“We need win elections all time but truth is probably won’t always be majority in Senate—and when we’re not majority—we enjoy filibuster.”
Senator Mullin continues updating constituents through social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
