Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Sunday said the animosity toward President Trump in Congress is one of the reasons for the recent record-breaking federal government shutdown.
“People are being disingenuous. It’s like they’re just actors. There’s just a lot of hatred up there for President Trump on the Democrat side, and it’s frustrating. We’ve got to get something done. I don’t — it’s not my first choice for him to use his emergency power. But he’s proposed things. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are not being — they’re not negotiating with him in good faith, I don’t believe,” the freshman senator said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Scott, who narrowly defeated former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson last year, said even Trump has to accept some responsibility for the breakdown in negotiations over $5.7 billion for his southern border wall, which led to the 35-day funding gap for large swaths of the federal government.
“Everybody does,” Scott said. “Everybody’s got to act in good faith. Everybody’s got to stop saying this is all about, you know, winning and losing. It’s not. It’s about what’s good for the American public.”
[Also read: Byron York: In border fight, Democrats want ‘technological wall’ that won’t keep anybody out]
Scott, who was a two-term Florida governor, ran in 2018 on a platform that included term limits for federal office. On Sunday, he said future shutdowns or failed attempts to pass a budget should result in lawmakers not getting paid.
“We’ve got to make sure people start working together, and I think everybody’s got to figure out how to do that. And I’m going to try my best to be part of that,” Scott said.
The current stopgap spending measure Trump signed late last month expires on Feb. 15. A bipartisan committee of 17 House and Senate negotiators met last week to reset discussions on Homeland Security funding for fiscal 2019. Trump downplayed the panel’s chances of reaching a deal in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, repeating the possibility that he may have to rely on emergency powers to divert military resources in order to build a physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
