Alabama U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Sunday that the current government shutdown “could last a long, long time.”
Shelby was a guest on CBS’ Face The Nation Sunday morning where he explained discussions over government funding are “getting nowhere,” saying the shutdown “could last a long, long time.”
Host Margaret Brennan asked, “Sir, 47 percent of Americans blame the president for the shutdown, 33 percent blame Democrats, according to the latest Reuters poll. Where do negotiations stand?”
“Our negotiations are at an impasse at the moment,” Shelby replied said. “I wish it were not so. We’ve got to move away from the blame game of blaming the president, blaming the Democrats… and get back to doing what we’re sent there to do, fund the government.”
“It’s a question when do we get off the blame game and we get to serious negotiations. At the end of the day, all of this will end. We don’t know when, in negotiations. It’s not a question of who wins or loses. Nobody’s gonna win this kind of game. Nobody wins in a shutdown. We all lose and we kind of look silly.”
He continued, “We can do better and we’ve got to figure out a way, Margaret, to get to yes. If we blame each other this could last a long, long time.”
The government shutdown has entered its second week, with President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats at odds over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
You can watch Shelby’s full interview here.
