Dear Editor,

There’s no way around it: Democrats have taken their political games too far and shut down the government.

Let me pull back the curtain and explain what’s really going on.

Two weeks ago, House Republicans passed a clean continuing resolution (CR). Think of a CR like putting gas in the tank to get to the next station. It’s not a permanent fix, but it keeps the engine running while Congress finishes bipartisan negotiations on long-term funding. Ours gave seven more weeks to complete the job responsibly.

Democrats rejected that common-sense approach. Instead, they offered their own version stuffed with $1.5 trillion of American taxpayer money in new spending. Their bill was not about keeping the government open; it was about forcing through a wish list: reinstating free health care for illegal aliens, a $50 billion cut to rural health care, and billions for DEI and climate projects overseas. That’s not governing; it’s opportunism.

The clean CR only looks “partisan” because Democrats chose to make it that way. Remember, they supported the same kind of short-term extensions 13 different times during the Biden administration. The only thing that changed is their politics.

Hoosiers sent a clear message in November: they wanted Republican leadership to deliver real change. And we have. We made the 2017 tax cuts permanent. We secured the border. We ended taxes on tips and overtime. We helped Main Street businesses keep more of what they earn. We restored immediate expensing. And we passed the largest spending cut in American history. Democrats cannot defend that progress, so they’re trying to roll it back by shutting down the government.

That’s not what Hoosiers voted for, and it’s not what I promised. I promised to work with President Trump and get America back on track, and that means standing against the old Washington game of reckless spending.

Everyone should agree on this much: our troops deserve to be paid. TSA agents and border patrol deserve their paychecks. Families who rely on food assistance deserve stability. That ends if Democrats continue blocking the clean CR Republicans put forward.

The choice is simple. Keep the government running or keep playing politics. It’s time to stop the games and do right by the American people.

Congressman Rudy Yakym
U.S. Representative for
Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District