Washington, D.C. – This morning, U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) joined Fox News’ Dana Perino on America’s Newsroom to discuss the continuing resolution (CR) in the House, the possibility of a Schumer Shutdown, and the failure of Canada and Mexico to stop the flow of fentanyl.
Sen. Mullin’s full interview can be found here.
On Speaker Johnson’s press conference:
“First of all, Speaker Johnson is doing a phenomenal job. The fact that he’s working so closely with the Senate, with the White House, and then being able to bring a coalition of a very, very slim majority to be able to pass these much needed, tough bills. I mean, the reconciliation package, our budget was very difficult to pass. The idea that he’s been able to bring a coalition, including the Freedom Caucus, together, with President Trump’s help, to be able to pass a CR, I think it puts the Democrats in a very tough position.”
“It’s also going to be up to now Republicans in the Senate, which we’ll be able to get 51 or 52 votes on that, but it is going to be up to Schumer to actually be able to allow his members to vote for it or choose to shut down the government.”
On the possibility of a Schumer Shutdown:
“It’s 60 votes for the CR, for the reconciliation it’s just a simple majority, for the budget it’s a simple majority. For the CR it is 60. So, the most we can deliver in the Senate is 53 Republican votes… We’ll probably do 51 maybe 52, but the rest of it is up to the Democrats.”
“And so if Schumer wants to have another Schumer shutdown like he did in 2018, that’ll be up to him. The Democrats will make a decision now, if they’re going to shut down the government or they’re not. Republicans will do our part. They’re going to deliver it, as Speaker Johnson said in the House, we will deliver our 50 plus votes in the Senate, and then it’ll be up to Schumer to deliver the rest of them.”
On Biden’s leftovers:
“Let’s think about this, Dana, if we shutdown, who controls the government at that point? It’s the President of the United States. He will deem essential and nonessential. He’ll deem what agencies stay open, what agencies don’t. He’ll have full control over the government at that time. In this case, this should be something they would enjoy doing.”
“What the Republicans are wanting to do is say goodbye to the Biden administration and put them behind us. Cut the umbilical cord, move forward and start working on President Trump’s agenda. Moving forward, putting the DOGE act cuts in place, and make sure that we are securing America’s future. But we can’t do that as long as we keep fighting over Biden’s leftovers. And that’s what FY25 is, it’s Biden’s leftovers.”
“Now keep in mind, Chuck Schumer should have already did this. He should have already delivered these appropriations bills. He had these on his desk since the end of July of last year, and he chose not to bring up not a single, Dana, not a single appropriation bill underneath his leadership, which is shameful.”
On Canada and Mexico failing to stop the flow of fentanyl:
“You know on the tariffs talks, people have to separate those into two separate buckets. We have reciprocal tariffs that the President is trying to expand our economy and our reach to be able to have parity with other countries, which is what we should be doing. With Canada and Mexico, it’s about national security. They continue to allow the cartels and trafficking and fentanyl to fly across our northern and southern border, and we have to have their help.”
“If they don’t want to help us in the manner that we need, then we have to have something to get their attention. And that’s what the tariffs on Canada and Mexico is about. We prefer not to do that, but they’re not partnering with us to help fight crime, and the crime is coming from their side of the country flowing into our country.”
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