The Illinois Republican Party is urging newly minted Democratic U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten to help bring an end to the ongoing, record-setting partial government shutdown.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi controls the House, and it's her duty to show up and negotiate with the Republican-controlled Senate and President Trump,” Illinois Republican Party spokesman Aaron DeGroot said in a press release. “But Pelosi has refused to even consider a compromise to end the partial government shutdown, and Congresswoman Underwood, Congressman Casten and other Illinois Democrats have enabled her with their silence. It’s time for Underwood, Casten and others to stop playing political games and join their Democratic colleagues in standing up to Speaker Pelosi. If they do, this partial shutdown would be over, Dreamers would be protected and we would have stronger border security.”
In the release, DeGroot noted that both Underwood and Casten elected not to sign off on a letter fellow freshman lawmaker Elaine Luria (D-Va.) sent to Pelosi asking that she compromise with Trump to bring an end to the shutdown.
Aaron DeGroot
Signed by at least 30 other Democrats, the letter stated, “We promised our constituents that we would seek bipartisan solutions, and we feel that this proposal would gain bipartisan support and allow a transparent process to evaluate the true needs of border security and provide much-needed reform to our immigration system."
Underwood and Casten also refused to sign off on a similar letter that bore the signatures of fellow Illinois Congressmen Dan Lipinski and Brad Schneider, who are also Democrats.
Finally, according to the release, the pair failed to sign off on a measure that would have paved the way for federal workers to be paid while a deal is still being worked out. They also chose not to support any of the three proposals that called for federal workers to be compensated while the government is still shut down.
“Voters in IL-14 and IL-06 deserve better than Pelosi pawns currently representing them in Congress,” the release added.
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