Congressional Republicans are right to call out the cynical theater unfolding in Washington, and Rep. Mark Harris didn’t mince words on Newsmax’s Wake Up America when he warned that Democrats are prepared to weaponize a shutdown to score political points. Harris said Republicans must get in line to stop the self-inflicted chaos and pushed back hard against the idea of handing Democrats leverage by letting federal employees become political pawns. His message is simple: voters will not forget which party chose pain over solutions.
It’s galling but predictable that the left would use unpaid federal workers as leverage — what Harris correctly described as the politics of pain — while lecturing Americans about compassion and fairness. Using career civil servants and essential services as bargaining chips reveals an ugly contempt for the very people Democrats pretend to defend. Conservatives should call this out every chance we get and refuse to normalize political blackmail dressed up as policy.
Harris also reminded viewers that Congress will be back in session with real work to do and a real choice: pass regular order appropriations or watch chaos reign. He urged House Republicans to unite behind a commonsense spending approach so Americans don’t suffer needless disruption and local economies aren’t strangled by partisan brinkmanship. That’s responsible governance — the kind voters vote for when they want bills paid and kids kept safe.
Meanwhile, Democrats’ strategy of manufactured outrage and performative suffering is a short-term publicity stunt that will rebound on them when hard-working Americans see who caused the bills to go unpaid. Harris was right to say the backlash will be fierce, because nobody respects a party that weaponizes people’s paychecks for political theater. If GOP lawmakers stay focused on restoring services and protecting workers, the voters will reward competence over cruelty.
Republicans should take Harris’s warning as a wake-up call: stand united, protect federal workers, and force the debate back to budgets and priorities instead of pain and theatrics. The spectacle of Washington using furloughs as leverage isn’t politics — it’s abuse of power — and it’s time to flip the script back to conservative principles like fiscal responsibility, law and order, and respect for labor. Voters want results, not ransom notes.
Patriots across this country are watching and remembering which side chose chaos over compromise; Rep. Mark Harris is speaking for the millions who just want a government that works for them, not against them. Now is the moment for Republicans to lead with courage, end the shutdown theater, and deliver for the American people who built this nation with their hands and their sweat. Hold the line, put workers first, and let the voters decide who truly cares about America.
