Hoyer Discusses the Possibility of Another Republican-led Government Shutdown on CNBC's "Squawk Box"

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed the need for Republicans to work with Democrats to avoid another costly government shutdown on CNBC's "Squawk Box" this morning. Below are excerpts from the interview and a link to the video.

Click here to watch the video. 

“I don’t think there's any doubt that the Democrats are going to cooperate in keeping the government open, if, in fact, we have a reasonable alternative. It won’t be an alternative that either party likes in terms of funding levels. We think the sequester needs to be adjusted and changed, as does Hal Rogers, the Republican Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. But clearly, this fight about Planned Parenthood – it was a fight about the Affordable Care Act, about immigration, about the debt limit in years past – where [Republicans] have taken us to the brink of what I believe will be a common sense conclusion, hopefully, before Wednesday, and that we will keep the government open on October 1st. But I don't know where you’re getting the thought that Democrats assuming, again, that we have a reasonable common sense [funding bill], which historically is what we've done, both parties have come to agreement on a reasonable number to move the government forward for a short period of time while still negotiating on longer-term funding levels. But I don't think there's any desire on our side to shut down the government. That’s not good policy. It's not good for the economy. It's not good for the American self-confidence.”

“Democrats have not had a policy of shutting down government. When you look at 1995, [when Speaker] Gingrich [led] Congress, they did, in fact, shut down the government. When you look at 2012 over the debt limit, [Republicans] were close to shutting down the government. In 2013, [Republicans] did shut down the government over the Affordable Care Act. Then it was immigration that was the policy. [Republicans] almost shut down the Department of Homeland Security. In 2015, the same thing occurred, and every time the government was kept open, it was because Democratic votes overwhelmingly made sure that happened. You recall the last time… One-hundred and sixty-seven Republicans voted to keep the Department of Homeland Security shuttered. It's not Democrats, ever, in my opinion, who want to shut down the government… I don't think the Founding Fathers had any thought in their mind that the Board of Directors of a great country would make a decision to shut itself down over extraneous issues – important issues, but not extraneous to the funding of government.”

“It ought to be considered on its own merit. Republicans are upset because they don't have votes… many of the Senators don't agree with [House Republicans], and in this case, eight Senators voted against [a CR defunding Planned Parenthood], and as you know they didn’t even get a majority for the proposition they’re putting forward, 47-52, so for what the Founding Fathers expected was at the end of the day, the majority would rule, and we would move forward with compromise. And if we don't compromise, that's not the responsible thing to do.”