Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., praised President Donald Trump's "real leadership" for finding a way to pay members of the U.S. military despite the partial government shutdown, telling Newsmax the administration proved it can act decisively while Democrats in Congress refuse to govern.
Comer told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE" that Trump's team, led by budget chief Russell Vought, was "shuffling money around" to cover paychecks due Wednesday for enlisted service members whose families depend on timely wages.
"They're finding savings in other areas," said Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"This is all part of what the objective of DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] was supposed to be.
"So, I applaud the president. The president is showing real leadership. His team, Russell Vought and those guys, are doing a great job, when the Democrats in Congress have failed to do their job."
Comer said congressional Democrats are intentionally prolonging the shutdown in hopes of damaging Trump politically.
"The one job, if you broke the responsibility of Congress down to one thing, it would be to fund the government," Comer said.
"And the Democrats are refusing to do that. It's not that they can't do it. They're refusing to do it for one reason: to try to hurt Donald Trump.
"[It's] Trump Derangement Syndrome. They think that if the government shuts down, the American people are going to turn on the Republicans.
"The American people are seeing that the Democrats have voted for a continuing resolution countless times over the past decade.
"Now the roles are reversed, and Trump is president, and they're trying to get their members to stick together to keep the government shut down."
Comer said he hopes Trump will continue to find "creative ways" to keep essential government workers paid and use the shutdown as an opportunity to trim the federal bureaucracy.
"There are so many government employees that maybe when their job was created decades ago, it was of a good purpose for the American taxpayer," Comer said.
"But now that's not the case. This is an opportunity for President Trump to downsize the federal government.
"I support that, and I hope that he takes advantage of it. But I applaud the fact that he's come up with the money to pay our troops because that's the most important priority of them all in the shutdown."
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