Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Thursday that a growing number of moderate Democrats are frustrated with their party’s leadership and may soon join Republicans in voting to end the ongoing government shutdown.
Appearing on “Wake Up America,” Lankford said Democrats have “dug in” behind Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rather than negotiating with Republicans to reopen the government.
“There are a few Democrats that are starting to say, ‘Well, we’re talking about actually making a proposal and bringing it to [Majority Leader] John Thune,'” Lankford told co-hosts Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride.
“Thune has been very patient in this process, but is incredibly frustrated, as I am, to say — I know you hate President [Donald] Trump, you’ve said that over and over again, but now you’re punishing federal workers, you’re punishing kids in Head Start [early-learning program], you’re cutting off SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits so they can protest that they don’t like President Trump.
“Well, the American people do.”
The Oklahoma senator said he believes at least five Democrats could cross the aisle soon, enough to reach the 60 votes needed to pass a bill to reopen the government.
“We have 55 right now. We need five more Democrats to be able to walk over and say, ‘I’m not going to shut down benefits for SNAP. I’m not going to close down Head Start. I’m not going to not pay federal workers that are working every day,'” Lankford said.
“Let’s stop punishing people.”
Lankford accused Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., of prioritizing political theater over governance.
“He won’t actually have talks. He won’t go over and visit with John Thune,” Lankford said of Schumer.
“Their plan was to shut the government down. They just didn’t have a plan to restart it again.”
Lankford said Democrats appear to be extending the shutdown to gain an edge in upcoming elections.
“We think at this point, they’re looking to try to get past the election next Tuesday,” he said, referring to gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey and the New York City mayor’s race.
“Apparently, they’re trying to keep the government closed down past that election time period so they can show their unity. Listen, that’s just not where the American people are.”
Lankford added that he has introduced legislation that would prevent future shutdowns altogether.
“We had 57 votes for that last session,” he said. “Republicans voted to say we’ll never have a government shutdown again. At that time, Democrats on the whole opposed it.”
Turning to Trump’s just-completed Asia trip, Lankford praised the administration’s success in securing new trade and energy deals with U.S. allies and China.
“Very, very productive trip with Malaysia, with Japan, with South Korea, with China,” Lankford said. “There’s a lot of trade deals that have been done, a lot of opportunities for American manufacturing and agriculture to be shipped into Asia.”
He said the trip showed a sharp contrast with the previous administration.
“[Former] President [Joe] Biden never took on new trade deals — he just refused to do it,” Lankford said.
“President Trump, in his very first year, has secured, I don’t know how many trade deals … reopening China to soybeans and sorghum is very helpful for American farmers and ranchers.
“Hard to keep up with all the peace deals and trade deals under President Trump.”
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