GOP It is. Lisa Murkowski told CNN that “constructive conversations” involving both parties must continue and “we need to make government open,” explaining that there is an urgent need to address the shutdown because people will soon start missing paychecks.
Asked about Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought threatening further federal workforce reductions amid the shutdown, Murkowski said she feared news of potential layoffs would cause “uncertainty,” pointing to “48 hours of panic” in her native Alaska over whether communities would be able to receive essential services provided by the planes that need support from the Ministry of Transport.
Pressed by CNN on whether the Trump administration should target blue states, Murkowski responded: “There should be no targeting of anyone. Unfortunately, a government shutdown affects everyone. We don’t need to unnecessarily target other areas more than others.”
GOP Senator Susan Collinswho broke with Republicans over President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill earlier this year, said she believed the White House needed to be involved in bipartisan talks to end the shutdown, adding that “the responsibility really lies with Chuck Schumer,” who, she noted, had previously opposed the shutdowns.
The chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee told CNN that she has circulated her own plan to reopen the government and that Democratic lawmakers, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, have done the same, so she hopes “we can come to an agreement.”
Collins later told CNN that she disagreed with Vought on laying off furloughed workers, calling it “extremely unfair” and warning that it would “leave agencies unable to operate effectively when they reopen.”
