Washington is broken, and the 39-day government shutdown proves it. Federal agencies remain shuttered, vital services are strained, and millions of Americans are left paying the price while lawmakers grandstand in Washington. The shutdown has dragged on into its fifth week as Congress fails to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government.
On Fox News Live this week, Rep. Kevin Kiley cut through the nonsense and blasted the spectacle on Capitol Hill, saying Congress’ approval is “on-par with Kim Jong Un” — a savage but not implausible indictment of a legislature that has lost the trust of the country. Conservatives should stop pretending Washington’s crisis is just partisan theater; it’s a legitimacy crisis plain and simple, and Kiley was right to call it out on a national stage.
Americans aren’t fooled. Polls show congressional approval at rock-bottom levels, with some surveys dipping into single digits as voters watch career politicians hold paychecks and benefits hostage. When ordinary families are choosing between groceries and medicine while lawmakers posture, approval ratings collapse — and the blame falls where it belongs: on colleagues who prioritize power plays over paid paychecks.
This shutdown didn’t happen in a vacuum. The standoff centers on Democrats insisting enhanced ACA subsidies be extended even as Republicans insist on a clean reopen — both sides blameless only in their own minds while real Americans suffer. Washington’s elites have turned governing into a bargaining chip, and the result is chaos at the Department of Veterans Affairs, delays in transportation and food assistance, and collapsing faith in institutions.
House Republicans have been painted as the villains by establishment media, but the record shows the Senate repeatedly blocked the stopgap measures the House passed and the House leadership has sometimes been absent when leadership was required. That absence of stewardship — leaving the floor and the process to bicker while the country pays the bill — is what Kiley and others rightly excoriate; voters deserve accountability, not excuses.
Enough with the finger-pointing. Conservatives must demand a return to basic responsibility: reopen the government, protect veterans and essential services, and then settle policy fights the American way — in the light of day, with honest debate and votes. The GOP should not let cowardice or the political class’ appetite for compromise that isn’t compromise cost the country its credibility.
President Trump and other Republican leaders have urged action to end the shutdown, including bold moves to break the gridlock, because the country cannot afford endless brinksmanship. If Washington will not govern, voters must make them pay at the ballot box and at the ballot box only — we should reward courage that brings commonsense results, not political theater that crushes working families.
Patriots across this country see the damage being done: small businesses hurt, federal workers anxious, veterans with delayed services, and the economy taking a hit. Conservatives, be loud and be relentless — demand that your representatives reopen the government now and stop praising process over people. America deserves leaders who put country above caucus, and we will remember which side chose the hard work of governing when November comes.
