Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., talks about the government shutdown : NPR

Leila Fadel, host:

We have the online congress member with us now. Hello, Member of the Haridopolos Congress.

Mike Haridopolos: Hello. Delighted to have the opportunity to be on your show.

Fadel: It’s nice to have you here. I’m sorry that we’ve lost you for a moment there. I want to start with the way this government closure will have an impact on the thousands of federal workers in your district. I mean, you represent a neighborhood that includes communities around Kennedy Space Center and the Space Force Cape Canaveral station. What do you mean?

Haridopolos: Well, I work directly with NASA – I am president of the space committee, and I spoke to NASA, and there will be very little impact with the closure of the government. This is the positive thing, which means that workers who are on leave know it very well when they return to work, whether we resolve it today or tomorrow or next week, whether they will give them their file as soon as we reopen. So they have this comfort to know.

But that said, it’s very frustrating at the moment in Washington, DC, because, as you know, last week, we, in the House of Representatives, voted to keep the government open. And we are optimistic with the three votes last night with three Democratic senators saying: What do you know? Let’s have this negotiation on health care, but first keep the government open. This is where I stand. But for any reason, Democrats think that the best thing to do – at the moment, at least – is to keep the government closed. We just don’t agree on this.

Fadel: Now the two parts are very dug. Democrats blame your party for this closure. Your party blame them. So what is the outing of this crisis? Because many federal workers check live, and these leave, even if it is only a week or two, will be devastating for their lives.

Haridopolos: Well, I agree. I think it is a bad idea to close the government. As you know – you understand in politics – when Joe Biden was president of the United States, the Democrats said that the government is closing the worst thing you can do. Well, they are the ones who prevent us from keeping the government open. As you know, we voted to get it out of the room, but it takes 60 votes to the Senate. But I am once again – I am encouraged by the reality of last night when three Democrats said, what do you know? We are going to have the negotiation of health care, that John Thune, the head of the majority, and President Johnson said that they both wanted. But until then, let’s keep the government open. So you don’t have the concern as you have …

Fadel: So your hope is that more democrats will simply vote for the Stopgap bill, not …

Haridopolos: It is, because remember, it is not the final negotiation. It is a seven -week -old stopgap -gangpan so that workers are not on leave. They don’t have to worry, as you say, perfectly, the check for check. We want them to continue to work, not only to be paid, but more importantly, provide the services that people have paid as a taxpayer. He is therefore a winner to keep the government open instead of playing this political game. But, look, it’s politics. I understand this part, but we did our …

Fadel: right.

Haridopolos: … I participate in the room, and we are optimistic that the Senate will do the same in the coming days.

Fadel: Now we have heard democrats that it is their way of rejecting the president in a time when they believe that the president takes the power of the congress bag, that this is what their voters want them, to use this lever moment. What do you say to this concern of voters that there must be a congress which is resistant to a framework which could take part of the power of the congress?

Haridopolos: Well, first of all, as you know, the – some of the cancellations – about 9 billion of which we made adjustments – it was not the acting president alone. It was the congress that looked at some of the most transparent opportunities we had because of Doge and said, what do you know? Even if these are programs that we could have, we can no longer allow them and we will move in a new direction. And it is therefore something on which we work with the president.

But remember, the president campaigned on the idea that we have a big budget deficit, and we must put expenses in accordance with income. And so it’s part of the process. It is a process of conceiving. We are ready to work with the Democrats, and we are again encouraged to see that the Democratic senators have seen the logic, let’s spend the next seven weeks working on the budget, ensuring that this is in good shape and working on policies such as the concerns of health care that some people have, who are more than legitimate.

Fadel: that the Democrats mentioned. Yeah. So, if the Democrats do not come next to it – it seems that you hoped that more than three will walk – it will be resolved quickly. But if this does not happen, is there a way to go out in a place where the two parties abandon something to put the government during the execution?

Haridopolos: Well, I would say that. Everything we are talking about is seven weeks, and it is exactly the same agreement that Democrats thought they were a good idea in March. I understand the political pressure that Democrats do. Their approval notes have never been lower. Of course, Chuck Schumer is worried about a primary. There are three different republics – I’m sorry – Democrats in New York worried about the primaries. But I think you don’t really tend to Trump. What you are doing is that you hurt people who need some of these government programs, not to mention the people who rely on this payroll because they are government employees. I want to see us stay open, and I think it’s the best thing to do.

Fadel: A new NPR / PBS News / Marist survey shows that Republicans could actually get more blame for this closure than Democrats. Are you finally afraid that this closure harms your party with voters?

Haridopolos: Well, that’s the – all I can say is that I hope that everyone listens recognizes the rules of the game. The rules of the game are that you need a majority in the House to keep the government open. We did it. The rules of the game are if – for the Senate, you need 60 votes. This means that you need at least seven democratic votes to keep the government open. I think that, given the districts of the Democrats, they would like to keep the government open, then negotiate some of these health care problems. But the problem of health care is not such a pure problem. Remember that if you earn $ 600,000 in Arizona as a family of four people, you get subsidies. I think it’s a bit out of control.

Fadel: The member of the Mike Haridopolos Republican Congress in Florida. Thank you very much for your time and for joining the program (PH).

Haridopolos: I appreciated. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.

Fadel: You too.

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