If you’ve been reading the news this week, you know exactly what I am talking about: the utter failure of House Republicans to do the fundamentals of their job—to pass legislation to fund the government.

Twice this week, House Republicans failed to get enough votes from their members to begin debate on the floor on the bill to fund the military.  (This is called passing “the Rule.”)  Like many of my colleagues, I had not seen this happen before this year.  And that’s because it almost never happens.  Since 1995, the House has failed to pass a rule only eleven times.  Two of them were this week.  Three of them were this year.

It has been a week of confusion, chaos, and frustration, as serious members worry about the possibility of a government shutdown and what it will mean for people across the country.  With 8 days until the federal government runs out of funds, House Republicans are wasting time and fighting each other instead of working with Democrats to pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown that would hurt our fellow Americans, our economy, and our national security.  

House Republicans are all alone on this.  House Democrats and the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are ready to follow the bipartisan agreement we made (and passed into law) earlier this year.  But some House Republicans are demanding drastic cuts to programs that American families count on for public safety, health care, education, food, and more while at the same time insisting on extreme, deeply divisive policy proposals.  Even Senate Republicans are opposed to the House Republicans’ extreme demands.

From banning abortion nationwide to impeaching the President, several House members are making extreme demands and withholding their votes until they are met, all the while threatening to remove the Speaker of the House if he does not accede.  And they do not appear to have a leader who can stop the chaos.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  It wasn’t this way in the last two Congresses, when Democrats controlled the House.  We took seriously our obligations to do the work we were sent to Washington to do, to ensure the continued, effective operation of the government, and to put people over politics.

The support of #TeamLizzie made that possible in 2018 when we flipped this seat from red to blue and with it control of the House.  Now, we have to hold on here and help take back the House.  You can help do that by making a contribution today.

Together, we can do anything,