Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Thursday night that House Republicans need to avoid a government shutdown, calling it "insanity" that they would allow the focus to shift from the Biden administration and put the target on them.
"We need to iron out our differences, and we need to get it done. A government shutdown is not good for America, the government shutdown even politically for the Republican Party is not good," Giménez said on "The Record with Greta Van Susteren."
At issue are the 12 appropriation bills that are due by Sept. 30 or else the government shuts down. Giménez said a shutdown gives the president "an out."
"All of the focus right now is on what's happening with Joe Biden, his administration, the border, all the disaster that is the Biden administration. Why are we going to give him an out?" Giménez said. "By making now us the focus of a government shutdown? I think that is insanity. That's crazy."
Giménez added that House Republicans have already met the $2 trillion in savings "that we negotiated some time ago."
"We have that number. We need to stick to that number," he said.
Giménez said he doesn't think all 12 bills could get passed by the deadline. Most of them will be ready, he said, and Republicans could pass a continuing resolution on the rest.
"I think what we need to do is as a conference come back next week, get ourselves in a room. We need to agree."
One that's ready to go is the defense appropriation bill, he said.
"The defense appropriation bill, nobody's arguing about that. The number has already been settled. So why can't we vote on that? Why are they holding that hostage?" Giménez said.
Giménez also pushed back on reports that a meeting among Republicans earlier Thursday got heated, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy allegedly throwing an F-bomb over a threat of facing a motion to vacate on the spending bills.
"I don't think it was hot. I don't think it was hostile," said Giménez, who was in the room. "The speaker showed some emotion, right? But not against anybody that was there. It wasn't because people were shooting at him, OK?
"A lot of the people that are causing ... some members of our conference don't want to vote for [appropriation bills], many of them weren't there, and the ones that were there were very respectful.
"It wasn't heated in that way."
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Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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