BOISE, Idaho — I sat down one-on-one with Senator Jim Risch in Boise to talk about the government shutdown, the government reopening, and if an extended shutdown could ever happen again.
"The government should never be shut down," stated Risch at the onset of the interview.
Most would agree with that, but I asked Senator Risch how we can prevent shutdowns from happening in the first place.
"And the way to do it is very simple: If you get to the end [of the session] and you haven't made a deal in the budget or the appropriation, what you do is you just continue what's called a clean CR, which is a 'continuing resolution.' The money keeps coming in because of tax collections, but you don't go up, you don't go down, you keep going until you do reach a deal, so you don't have to put people out of work."
To set the record straight, Congress did get paid during the shutdown because it's mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
Senator Jim Risch explains how he might prevent future shutdowns
Risch, who travels a lot between Boise and Washington, has seen it in the faces of the TSA workers.
"I talk to them every time I go through the airport. I come home every weekend. I said, I'm going back and trying to get you paid, and they said, 'Thank you, Senator— We appreciate that.'"
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that Transportation Security Administration officers with exemplary service during the shutdown will be receiving a $10,000 bonus in appreciation for their hard work and service to the American people.
As far as health care subsidies ending at the end of the year, putting tens of thousands of Idahoans at risk. Risch blames it on Obamacare and the Democrats who supported it at the time.
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He said the GOP said it was going to be expensive and it wouldn't work.
"We think the free market ought to work, and the free market ought to work as it did before Obamacare. They ,on the other hand, want the government operating the healthcare system. We have a difference there. We hope to be able to come together to get a process in place that will take care of people.
There's no timeline on that, and going back to what Rich said earlier about getting things done. It's Washington, D.C.
"And they're the ones who put this cliff that's coming on December 31st. No Republican voted for that ending that's going to happen [on] December 31st. Having said all that, this is a problem that needs to be addressed."
For now, the Government is back open for business.
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