Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Friday that the second version of the continuing resolution to fund the federal government failed Thursday night because "a lot of people didn't get everything they wanted, so they voted no."
"I heard a lot of people say there was one thing in there, it was the debt ceiling or something else, and so they're going to continue to vote no," Tenney told "Wake Up America." "And we're going to shut the government down, likely tonight, if we don't come up with a plan. Unfortunately, I don't think that's a good idea."
The New York congresswoman said she thinks a lot of people are under the misconception that Republicans are now in control of Congress because President-elect Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election with a mandate.
"[Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer still controls the Senate, and we have a very narrow majority in the House," Tenney said. "So if you have people that aren't going to vote with the Republican team, you are not going to get bills passed, and you are not going to control the government. So, while I support a government shutdown, when we control the government — as when President Trump was in office my first term — Chuck Schumer shut the government down. President Trump protected the American people. He didn't have a bunch of Obama holdovers really running the government like we do now with Joe Biden absent as the president, Kamala Harris absent as the vice president, not in the room negotiating or trying to come up with a deal to help the American people."
"We've got to get something to get us through to next year," she continued, referring to a stopgap funding bill. "I wish we had done our appropriations on regular order that were due Sept. 30, but we didn't have the votes on our side to get those done because there are people that are hard-nosed no matter what we do. And so we couldn't come up with a deal. And unfortunately, right now, this is not going to help President Trump."
In a Truth Social post Friday morning, Trump said he would actually prefer a shutdown under Biden, if one happens at all.
"If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under 'TRUMP,'" he wrote. "This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!"
Tenney said that "the Democrats' biggest wish, desire, want, and greatest play is a government shutdown while they control government."
"They will drag this on as long as possible and every day let the American people know that somehow we're responsible, when they're the ones that voted against the deal," she said.
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