A MAGA Republican who joined more than 30 of his fellow party members in voting against a GOP spending bill to fund the government — and avert a holiday shutdown — said that while he feels for the people affected by the vote, "collapsing the government" and "acting like a bunch of spoiled kids" wouldn't do anyone any good.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) spoke to reporters on the steps of the Capitol on Thursday night after his party's 11th-hour spending bill failed to pass a House vote just a day before the current funding bill is set to expire.
The GOP needed 290 "yes" votes to pass the bill but secured just 174, despite receiving President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk's blessing. Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the deal, including Burchett, who lamented the people likely to be impacted by the shutdown.
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Burchett lamented that many people will acutely feel the impacts of the vote.
"I don't want people to hurt. It's Christmas time. I'm a Christian. I try to be a good one. I'm not. I'm forgiven, at the forgiven end of the scale," he said. "I hurt for people that this is going to hurt."
Even so, he defended casting a no vote on the bill, which could lead to a government shutdown and impact millions of federal workers across the United States. About 2.2 million civilian federal employees stand to be impacted during the holiday season, either forced to work without pay or facing furlough. Another 2 million military personnel could see delayed paychecks.
"I tell you what: Collapsing our government under our lack of physical restraint and acting like a bunch of spoiled kids is not doing people any service. And we can do a whole heck of a lot better," he said.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
