Rep. Darrell Issa on Sunday accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., of "pandering to the left" in the government shutdown impasse and said other Senate Democrats who won't vote to keep the government open are following suit.
"You have to ask when virtually every House member and virtually every Senate member who are Democrats voted with them, that means that they're following that same extreme agenda," the California Republican told Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda."
Hence, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not only "captured" Schumer and Jeffries, her fellow New Yorkers, but also "she and her cohorts have captured the entire Democrat House and Senate, and that's scary," said Issa.
The House recently passed a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open, but Senate Democrats rejected the measure, and Issa said the decision reflects a larger shift within the party.
"Chuck Schumer made a 180 between the time in which [former President] Bill Clinton supported tough borders and no illegals, and today when AOC demands that illegals be let in and then given benefits until they vote for a permanent Democrat Party," Issa said.
He added that the left's priorities on immigration and entitlement spending are pushing earners and businesses out of states like California.
The congressman also highlighted Schumer's past comments opposing shutdown tactics, recalling a 2013 clip in which the New York Democrat called the strategy "a politics of idiocy, of confrontation, of paralysis."
Issa said that description fits Schumer's current refusal to consider the House's continuing resolution.
"The House sent over a clean CR," Issa said. "We're sitting here doing our duties. ... How do you deal with no response to a completely clean CR that Schumer has voted for time and time again?"
Turning to foreign policy, Issa praised President Donald Trump's renewed efforts to negotiate peace in the Middle East.
He acknowledged that Hamas has agreed to only parts of Trump's proposed 20-point peace proposal, but said most ordinary Palestinians and Israelis want a settlement.
"President Trump is not somebody who believes a deal is about kicking the can down the road," Issa said. "He's had to push both sides … to get to a lasting peace."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.