OKLAHOMA CITY – Saying the shutdown of the federal government could inflict severe consequences on all Oklahomans, 33 members of the state Senate’s Republican Caucus signed a letter calling on federal lawmakers “to immediately pass a clean shortterm funding extension.”
The letter, sent to Congress on Sept. 29, was address to both Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. The letter was signed by state Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, Appropriations Chairman Chuck Hall and Senate Majority Leader Brenda Stanley.
“Holding the federal government funding hostage is not just a Washington, D.C. debate for political points, it has real and immediate consequences in every state across America that cannot be overlooked,” the state lawmakers wrote. “From impacting pay for our troops, first responders, and firefighters to affecting critical services for seniors and veterans and disrupting food assistance for families in need, a government shutdown would inflict severe consequences on the American people that are completely avoidable.”
Only services listed as essential will stay open during the shutdown. Those services include mail, air traffic control, the Transportation Safety Administration and Social Security. Other federally funded programs, such as national parks and museums are currently closed.
With federal spending at a standstill, officials have expressed concerns about the state’s military bases – which have thousands of civilian employees – the National Weather Center at the University of Oklahoma and state’s three federal courts.
Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, a Republican from Moore and the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the shutdown was irresponsible.
“The problem is the minute you shut down the government you start to threaten people's jobs. You create economic disruption. It's an extremely irresponsible thing to do,' Cole said in an interview with KOCO-TV.
Cole said his district, alone, has thousands of federal employees.
'I have a lot of federal employees. Tinker Air Force Base has 16,000 federal employees in my district. Fort Sill Army Base has about 6,000,” he said. We have the National Weather Center. I’ve got the Kerr Water lab, so I’ve got an enormous federal presence.”
The state’s military bases aren’t the only installations that could suffer under the shutdown.
State lawmakers said the solution to the budget debate was the adoption of clean funding extensions.
“The clean funding extension provides stability for our military service members, veterans, and their families, as well as the continuity of low-income assistance programs,” the state lawmakers wrote. “Allowing a shutdown would consequently and needlessly disrupt our economies, threaten public safety, and undermine public confidence in our institutions.”
Put simply, a government shutdown should not be used as political leverage to pass partisan reforms— these are not chips Congress should be bargaining with, the letter said.
“The proposed budget extension is a straightforward, bipartisan solution. There are no gimmicks or partisan poison pills; it’s a clean, short-term funding measure that both parties have historically supported,” the lawmakers wrote. “In fact, under the Biden Administration with Democrat leadership, Congress passed 13 clean funding extensions putting country over party. That precedent should be honored now.”
Democrats in the U.S. Senate, the letter said, should “fulfill their duties, put their politicking behind, and do what’s best for the country: keep the government open.”
“There is no path forward for the Democrats’ nearly $1.5 trillion wish list that would give free healthcare for illegals and cut the single largest investment in rural health care in history— critical funding delivered in the President’s tax legislation that will improve rural health care nationwide,” the letter said.
State Republicans said they “urged the Senate to do the right thing and act swiftly to pass a clean funding extension.”
“The American people are relying on their leaders to put good governance over politics. For the sake of security and stability, we respectfully call on you to act without delay,” the lawmakers said.
State Democrats countered that Oklahomans were paying the cost of Congress refusing to work together.
“Many agencies are preparing for mass firings, employees must continue their work without pay, and many are being furloughed. We must remember that these disagreements directly affect people– our family members and neighbors,” House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson said.
Munson said the shutdown would not only cost taxpayers but cost the livelihoods of thousands of federal employees as well as those who rely on federal services.
As of Monday, the federal government shutdown continues.