Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should go back to school for basic civics and learn how the government works, Monday on “America’s Newsroom.”
Fox News host Bill Hemmer questioned Mulvaney about the ongoing government shutdown. Mulvaney said it’s up to Congress, not President Donald Trump, to reopen the government.
“I heard your lead-in where Chuck Schumer said only the president can open this government,” Mulvaney said. “Mr. Schumer needs to go back and take basic civics. It is up to the Congress to fund the government. Not the president of the United States. Only the Democrats in the Senate right now hold the keys to opening the government.”
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Mulvaney called for bipartisanship and said the fate of the government rests solely in the hands of Congressional Democrats.
“We’ve already seen four or five democrats already vote for keeping the government open,” he said. “Working in a bipartisan fashion. We need more of those. This government cannot open again until at least nine Democrats support the measure. So it’s entirely in their hands.”
Mulvaney said it would be strategic to reach out to “centrist Democrats” like Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who pledged to work with Republicans and reach across the aisle, but has yet to vote “yes” on reopening the government.
“You probably would have to reach out first to those sort of self-described centrist Democrats. The folks who go back home,” Mulvaney continued. “Jon Tester in Montana for example and says he wants to work with Republicans, he’s good at reaching across the aisle. He tries to run on that platform and then comes to Washington and does something entirely differently. I think those are the folks you need to talk to.”
Trump will not tie any Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) legislation to the current shutdown and plans to negotiate on immigration after the government reopens, he also said.
“Let’s be perfectly clear where the president is. He was negotiating on DACA before the shutdown. He wants to continue discussions about DACA, but it will be after the shutdown,” Mulvaney concluded. “We’re not going to be held hostage. We are not going to allow the Democrats to force a discussion on DACA by forcing a shutdown.”
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