U.S. Senator Katie Britt Joins The National Report on Newsmax

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) joined The National Report on Newsmax to discuss the Democrat-led shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and call to pass Senator John Kennedy's (R-La.) No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act.

On the Senate staying in Washington to end Democrats' DHS shutdown and fulfilling its duty to the American people:

"Well, first off, we're not leaving if this doesn't get done, I mean, lawmakers need to get ready to actually do their job. I mean, we've had 40, 41 days of a Democrat led shutdown. This is the second one of the fiscal year. When you're looking at people who have stepped forward to say, hey, we want to serve our homeland, we want to protect American citizens from coast to coast, Democrats are finding a way to not pay those individuals. Republicans are saying, let's get this done. We want to make sure that TSA is fully funded, Coast Guard is fully funded, CISA is fully funded … We're looking at our law enforcement officers in our interior, we know how important that is, that that is fully funded.

"So we're working diligently to get that done and we know that that's important to the American people. And so we're committed to making it happen. But I hope people get used to staying right here until that happens. We shouldn't be leaving at all."

On the possibility of another reconciliation bill:

"Let's get this done today. Let's fund all of the department … President Trump was so wise to have us do a reconciliation bill last year. We pre-funded much of this. That gives us a little bit of opportunity to wait and go ahead and start another reconciliation bill as well. I think that bill should be a public safety bill as my colleague Marsha Blackburn has been advocating for, narrowly tailored to make sure that we are keeping Americans safe."

On her support for passing the No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act:

"Now, let me talk about another thing that Senator Kennedy has been talking about that I am fully supportive of and think if we did, we wouldn't be in this position right now. And that is stopping the paychecks of my colleagues in this building and across the way in the House if we don't fund the government … TSA should never be going without their paycheck while we are getting ours. If we were to pass his bill, then I can guarantee you people would be much more eager to come to the table … These men and women come to work every single day to keep our country safe, and if we can't get in here and do our job, we shouldn't be receiving a paycheck while they're not receiving theirs … I am sick of the 'rules for thee and not for me', and I think the American people are as well."

You can watch the Senator's full interview here.

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