Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Newsmax on Monday that Democrats are stuck in a party that has nowhere to go.
"I think it's a party that's dying, frankly," Emmer, the House majority whip, told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
Emmer said the federal government shutdown is continuing solely because Senate Democrats are following Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
"And Chuck Schumer right now is leading them to where a very small but very loud and at times violent group of Americans are, the new base of the Democrat party," he said.
He predicted Schumer's days as minority leader will end soon.
"I'll leave the Democrats to decide who their leaders are, but I would say that the leader in the Senate is going to be different. If not sooner, certainly after the elections in the midterms," he said.
Emmer said Democrats forced a government shutdown, a failure on their part. But he said things would be different if Schumer showed true leadership.
"Leadership is not leading people to where they are; it's leading people to where they need to be."
The lawmaker said he would not be surprised to see some of the more moderate Senate Democrats breaking away from their leader to vote for the continuing resolution already approved by the House to reopen the government and let talks about spending policy continue.
"So the win for four or five Democrats would be, you know what, I've given him [Schumer] enough time, I have to vote for my constituents. It's time to reopen the government," Emmer said.
He pressed that point last week in a letter to Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, both D-Minn., calling on them to vote to reopen the government.
"This clean continuing resolution," he wrote, "which came with no policy riders, has been supported on a bipartisan basis thirteen times during the Biden Administration.
"It was also supported by Democrats just six months ago. It is unjust and irresponsible to hold the federal government hostage for partisan programs."
Senate Democrats continue to withhold support for the continuing resolution, saying they need a commitment from Republicans to fund programs the Democrats say are necessary for their constituents.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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