The ongoing government shutdown should be used to eliminate unnecessary agencies and programs in the nation’s “bloated government,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman told Newsmax on Friday.
“We have bloated bureaucracies,” the Indiana Republican said on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “We have paper pushers. We have people that really don’t do what the American people are expecting, that the government serves them.”
Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over how to reopen the government, with the Senate on Thursday rejecting competing bills for the seventh time. With senators leaving town until Tuesday, the standoff will continue into next week.
Stutzman said the stalemate highlights the divide between “essential” workers across the country and “nonessential” employees in the nation’s capital, adding that President Donald Trump should start making cuts with the nonessential employees.
“A lot of Hoosiers this morning are waking up and going to work because they’re essential workers at their business or wherever they work,” he said. “And there are a lot of employees in Washington, D.C., that, you know, categorize as nonessential.”
Stutzman said he supports Trump’s plan to review and cut federal programs popular with Democrats, calling Trump “the leader to do that,” and said he thinks the Internal Revenue Service should be among the first agencies to face reform.
“I know that’s one agency that needs a major overhaul,” he said. “There are plenty of government employees inside the Beltway who could be out across the country. I think President Trump is working through that list.”
Trump has said the shutdown, now in its tenth day, could be used to target “very popular Democrat programs that are not popular with Republicans.” He has blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for the impasse.
Stutzman said Democrats are more focused on opposing Trump than helping Americans.
“This is purely an anti-Trump strategy because the Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in the halls of Congress,” he said. “They’re doubling down to hold out for benefits for illegals across the country. That does not defend the American people.”
He said the people in his rural Indiana district, where agriculture and manufacturing dominate the economy, expect lawmakers to “govern responsibly.”
“When they hear about the shutdown, they roll their eyes and say, ‘Why are they defending illegals over the American people?'” Stutzman said.
He also criticized U.S. foreign aid, arguing that funds should instead go toward rebuilding local infrastructure.
“Why are we sending millions of dollars overseas to countries that don’t like us very much?” he said. “Why don’t we send those dollars to Bluffton, Indiana, where $1 million would go a long way in rebuilding our infrastructure?”
On foreign policy, Stutzman praised Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying it demonstrated leadership and diplomacy.
“He’s such a hospitable person. He wants to make sure everybody in the room is comfortable and wants to hear from everybody,” Stutzman said. “What he’s done in the Middle East is truly worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.”
He said Trump’s “personality, persistence, and patience” helped bring opposing sides together.
“Instead of destroying each other, let’s actually start building our countries,” Stutzman said. “That’s going to be better for everybody.”
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