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>> We are on day 23 of the
federal government shutdown.

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failed 12 times to pass the
House bill that would

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reopen the government.
Joining us now is

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Republican Congressman
Glenn Grothman. Congressman,

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thanks for joining us.
>> Glad to be on the show.

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>> So the continuing
resolution the House passed

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would only fund the
government through November

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21st. And at this point,
we're almost closer to that

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date than the start of the
shutdown. Do you think

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a new CR with maybe a
longer date behind it?

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>> Well, I think we should.
First of all, wait a little

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bit and see if the
Democrats will vote to keep

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the government open. I mean,
like you just said, the

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Republicans in the Senate,
my own Ron Johnson, have

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voted 12 times to keep the
government open. And it's

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what is normally automatic.
So you understand we are

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waiting for a budget for
the calendar year, for the

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fiscal year beginning
October 1st, 13 times when

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Joe Biden was president,
the Republicans helped him

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out by keeping the
government open in similar

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circumstances. I bet it
didn't even make the shows

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right. So I think a lot of
us still want to believe

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that the Democrats will do
what is par for the course

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has been for decades, and
just vote to keep the

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government open. No reason
not to.

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>> So the hangup for
Democrats in the Senate,

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according to them, is this
extension of Affordable

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Care Act subsidies. They're
holding out for that. They

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expire at the end of the
year. November 1st is when

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those subsidies, when the
marketplace opens, and

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people may see what
premiums may look like.

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Without those subsidies.
Would you vote to extend

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the subsidies if that was
the deciding factor in a

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deal?
>> You got to remember,

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it's always good to say
we're going to vote for

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more spending of every type.
But right now we're

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borrowing 26% of our budget.
That's why we've got to get

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the continuing resolution
passed, because there may

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wind up being a little more
for subsidies in there, but

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it depends upon what's
going on in the other items.

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We've got about $1.8
trillion in discretionary

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spending that we're voting
to extend, of which the

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Obamacare subsidies are
part of. That is because

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the Obamacare is flawed. It
would be nice to change.

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Obamacare works, so we
don't have to keep dipping

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further and further into
subsidies. But again, we've

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got to ask the Democrats
26% of our budget is

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borrowed. What do you plan
on cutting instead? If you

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do want to put $34 billion
a year, which is about what

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they're looking at into
Obamacare subsidies.

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>> So one of the things
that people in the public

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that are receiving these
subsidies aren't as nuanced

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in the federal government
spending as obviously you

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are. But when they hear
headlines like $20 billion

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for Argentina to bail out
their economy, but we can't

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afford subsidies for
Americans. How do you

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explain that discrepancy
>> Well, I think President

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Trump is in a situation in
which he doesn't want

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Argentina to become a new
Venezuela, which would be

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even more wildly expensive
to deal with. I think they

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just have to realize the
Obamacare was poorly drawn

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up. We are prepared to keep
the government open. And

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then as far as subsidies
are concerned, you know,

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they've got to ask us where
other parts of the budget

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are that they don't want to
spend as much on. Again,

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the Americans have to get
used to the fact that right

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now we're borrowing 26% of
our budget. You're talking

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about Obamacare subsidies.
I'll tell you when I'm in

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my office, again and again
and again, I meet Americans

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who want the government to
spend more money. Can we

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spend more here? Can we
spend more there? And, you

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know, I can think of things
that can be done to get to

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$34 billion, but the
Democrats haven't put those

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things on the table. And in
part, they haven't put them

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on the table because we're
not negotiating. We're not

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should keep the government
open first. It's just not

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that difficult of a demand.
It's something that's done

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automatically. And if you
look at the statements in

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the, the, the journals that
are put out in Washington,

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D.C. the Democrats admit
that the reason they are

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not opening the government
is they want to use

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leverage, not just on
Obamacare, but on on things

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like Moore DEI programs,
for example, which I think

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are just the most vicious
things and wouldn't be

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wouldn't be good to spend
us the money for free.

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>> So the consumer price
index was released today

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and showed inflation was up
3% in September. And they

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say largely due to tariffs.
Do you continue to support

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Donald Trump's tariff
policy?

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>> I'm not as big a fan as
tariffs as some other

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people, but you know,
President Trump is our

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president. He's a big fan
of tariffs, as is his

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treasury secretary.
Mike Johnson has canceled

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floor sessions over the
past couple of weeks.

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Democrats say it's because
he doesn't want to swear in

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a newly elected Democrat
from Arizona, who

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potentially could be the
final vote to discharge

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Epstein files. Do you
believe that? Or do you

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think there's another
reason the floor the house

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hasn't come back to the
floor?

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>> I think the reason he
doesn't want Republicans

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back in Washington is I
think he wants to control

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the narrative as far as
what's going on during the

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shutdown. And I think he's
afraid if you had 200 more

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Republicans running around
Washington, the reporters

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would find somebody to say
something that maybe

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Speaker Johnson wouldn't
like. I was back in

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Washington this week. I
plan on returning to

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Washington next Monday, and
me there, they can

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interview me there. I don't
I don't have a problem

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going back to Washington.
>> And today, the Trump

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administration announced
application for federal

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disaster relief for six
counties damaged by

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flooding in August. Some of
those in your your district.

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What is your reaction to
that?

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>> I was very disappointed.
Obviously, we're very broke.

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That may be one of the
things that's entering into

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the decision. It's we just
got out today and I'll be

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in contact with the Trump
administration and see the