{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-ricketts-on-the-schumer-shutdown-the-hypocrisy-from-schumer-and-the-democrats-isbreathtaking/", "VIDEO: Ricketts on the Schumer Shutdown:\u00a0\u201cThe Hypocrisy from Schumer and the Democrats is Breathtaking.\u201d", "2025-10-02", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) slammed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for shutting down the federal government to score political points and appease his radical left base. Ricketts made the comments during his regular conference call with Nebraska media.\n\nWatch the video here.\n\n\u201cThis is a Schumer Shutdown,\u201dRicketts said. \u201cNebraskans\u2019 services will be limited under this Schumer Shutdown. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are directly responsible for creating this.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m fighting to end this Schumer Shutdown and responsibly fund the government,\u201d continued Ricketts. Republicans offered Chuck Schumer and Democrats a clean extension of the current bipartisan spending deal. Democrats voted it down. They are hypocrites.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe hypocrisy of Schumer and the Democrats is breathtaking,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cChuck Schumer demanded $1 trillion of partisan spending in exchange for keeping the government open for seven weeks. He demanded free healthcare for illegal aliens. He demanded that we eliminate the $50 billion Rural Healthcare fund that Nebraskans will rely on. He also wants to restore a burdensome staffing rule that would force the closing of rural nursing homes in Nebraska. Chuck Schumer\u2019s demands aren\u2019t reasonable. These radical policies will hurt Nebraskans.\u201d\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: The federal government is currently shut down.\n\n\u201cThis is a Schumer shutdown.\n\n\u201cNebraskan\u2019s services will be limited under the Schumer shutdown.\n\n\u201cChuck Schumer and the Democrats are directly responsible for creating this.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m fighting to end this Schumer shutdown and responsibly fund the government.\n\n\u201cRepublicans offered Chuck Schumer and the Democrats a clean extension of the current bipartisan spending deal.\n\n\u201cDemocrats voted it down.\n\n\u201cThey are hypocrites.\n\n\u201cThey voted for 13 continuing resolutions under Joe Biden that includes voting for this very budget.\n\n\u201cIn fact, these are the same funding levels they voted for four times in the last 18 months.\n\n\u201cChuck Schumer voted for it all four times.\n\n\u201cYes, Chuck Schumer voted for these spending levels four times in a row.\n\n\u201cBut now, to appease the far-left activists, he\u2019s chosen to shut down.\n\n\u201cWhat a hypocrite.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the height of hypocrisy.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what Chuck Schumer specifically said about these shutdowns.\n\n\u201cBack in 2013 Chuck Schumer said in an interview:\n\n\u201c\u2019What if I persuaded my caucus to say I\u2019m going to shut down the government.\n\n\u201c\u2019I\u2019m not going to pay our bills unless I get my way.\n\n\u201c\u2019It\u2019s the politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn January 2024 he said:\n\n\u201c\u2019Passing the CR, of course, will avert a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown.\n\n\u201c\u2019No reasonable member on either side, Democrat or Republican, wants a government shutdown.\n\n\u201c\u2019Both sides recognized that a government shutdown would mean crushing delays to veterans programs, delays to nutrition programs for Women, Infants and Children, delayed benefits for our military and so much more.\u2019\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what Schumer also said in January 2024:\n\n\u201c\u2019Avoiding a shutdown is very good news for the country, for our veterans, for parents and children, for farmers and small businesses, all of whom would have felt the sting had the government shut down.\u2019\n\n\u201cSchumer said:\n\n\u201c\u2019If the government shuts down, it will be the average American who suffers most.\n\n\u201c\u2018A government shutdown means seniors who rely on Social Security will be thrown in chaos.\n\n\u201c\u2018Veterans could see regional VA offices shut down and support services put on hold.\n\n\u201c\u2018Some of our military service members could be forced to work without pay.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow here\u2019s what Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy said in 2013 talking about the need for a funding bill that avoids partisan debates on health care.\n\n\u2018There is a time and a place to debate health care, but not when the funding of the federal government and all the lives impacted by it hang in the balance.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe hypocrisy of Schumer and the Democrats is breathtaking.\n\n\u201cNow Schumer is holding the federal government and hard-working Nebraskans hostage.\n\n\u201cChuck Schumer demanded a trillion dollars, $1 trillion of partisan spending in exchange for keeping the government open for just seven weeks.\n\n\u201cHe demanded free health care for illegal aliens.\n\n\u201cHe demanded that we eliminate the $50 billion Rural Health Care Fund that Nebraskans will rely on.\n\n\u201cHe also wants to restore the burdensome staffing level rule that would force the closing of rural nursing homes in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cChuck Schumer\u2019s demands aren\u2019t reasonable.\n\n\u201cThese are radical policies that will hurt Nebraskans.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, my Republican colleagues and I are working to responsibly fund the government.\n\n\u201cWe continue to advocate for a clean continuing resolution.\n\n\u201cThis extension would give the Congress more time to work through the regular appropriations process.\n\n\u201cWe passed three bipartisan appropriations bills before the August state work period.\n\n\u201cThe Appropriations Committee has more bipartisan appropriation bills ready for consideration.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans want to pass appropriation bills through the regular process.\n\n\u201cA clean continuing resolution means extending the current bipartisan spending deal.\n\n\u201cPassing a clean CR is what we as Republicans are fighting to do.\n\n\u201cIt was also a position of three Senate Democrats, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto and independent Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats, all voted for a clean CR last night.\n\n\u201cInstead of being reasonable, pro shutdown Democrats are playing political games.\n\n\u201cThis is harming all hard-working Nebraskans.\n\n\u201cWhen the federal government runs out of funding, service levels decline.\n\n\u201cSome programs stop.\n\n\u201cFor example, women and children cannot enroll in the WIC program.\n\n\u201cWhile Social Security checks will continue to go out, Social Security\u2019s customer service could be disrupted.\n\n\u201cVeterans and their families could face delays in accessing benefits.\n\n\u201cNational Parks might close.\n\n\u201cThe Taxpayer Advocate will be unavailable to help with IRS questions.\n\n\u201cMy Republican colleagues and I will continue working to pass a clean funding bill.\n\n\u201cThat way, essential services will be protected.\n\n\u201cWe will continue working through to complete the regular appropriations process and responsibly fund government.\n\n\u201cI am fighting to support Nebraska seniors, service members, veterans, workers, families and everyone who interacts with the federal government.\n\n\u201cThey deserve a government that works.\n\n\u201cSchumer must end this Schumer shutdown.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", 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