Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Monday that Democrats are steering the nation toward a government shutdown while insisting on more deficit spending and taxpayer-funded healthcare for people in the country illegally.
Appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Scott said Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, want to fund the government responsibly and balance the budget, but Democrats are blocking those efforts.
"Donald Trump, Republicans want to fund government; balance a budget," Scott said. "[Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats want to shut down government and continue this unbelievable, wasteful spending. ... We're running big deficits and they want to increase it. They want to give more free money to insurance companies. They want to fund healthcare for illegals. This has got to stop."
Scott highlighted proposals from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., including a bill to prevent government shutdowns, as well as his own legislation to withhold congressional pay when budgets aren't passed.
"Those are the types of things we ought to be doing up here," he said.
The Florida senator also targeted Democrat healthcare policies, blaming them for soaring costs and lack of accountability.
"Every Republican is just like me. We want people to be able to get healthcare. ... But we also have to have a system that is accountable. We can't just throw money to insurance companies where people don't even get any healthcare," Scott said. "We can't be paying for healthcare for illegal aliens. That's not what Donald Trump and Republicans ran on."
Scott added that the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, laid the groundwork for today's rising costs, arguing that Democrats are doubling down on a broken system.
"When you get frustrated with the cost of healthcare. Democrats did this to you, starting with Obamacare," he said.
Asked if a shutdown can be averted with a continuing resolution, Scott said no.
"It gets shut down. Chuck Schumer, for whatever reason, thinks it's good politics for him to have a shutdown," Scott said.
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