Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn says he’s stayed in Washington to work with anyone who’s still there on a deal that would end the federal spending stalemate. Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, says he’s frustrated with fellow House Republicans who he says are holding up the process.
“Fifteen people in a minority group in the majority who all have 15 different ideas of what they want to do and spend most of their time throwing out bumper sticker statements on Sunday morning talk shows and not actually even showing up for committee work,” Nunn said this morning during an interview with Radio Iowa. “I’m in D.C. right now, today, over the weekend because I want to get to a solution. Those guys left last night and are already doing fundraisers.”
Nunn supports a return to 2019 federal spending levels and he said Democrats, who hold a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate, also need to start being part of the solution so a government shutdown can be avoided. “We are coming up on a very short runway to make sure that we can enable our troops to be paid, our border security to stay on the line and 5000 Iowa families to make sure they have Head Start next month,” Nunn said.
This past week, a handful of House Republicans prevented a vote on the annual defense spending bill. Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican from LeClaire who spent 24 years in the Army, said in a written statement that it’s “profoundly disappointing” and “shortsighted” for five other Republicans in the House to hold that bill “hostage.”
Nunn, who has served in the Air Force and the Iowa National Guard, is currently a colonel in the Air Force Reserve. “We’ve got five members of the Republican majority who didn’t debate the bill, didn’t vote against the bill, didn’t even have comment on the bill, but wouldn’t even let the bill come to the floor,” Nunn said.
Nunn said there are sailors heading out on U.S. Navy submarines who do not know if their paychecks will reach their families while they’re on duty. “There are a number of people who are putting politics not only ahead of policy, but ahead of the ability to fund the federal government,” Nunn said, “to take care of the people that it’s charged with being responsible for.”
Nunn favors taking votes in the House on a dozen budget bills and he says while Democrats don’t support the spending levels, they could at least join with the majority of House Republicans and let the bills come up for votes. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, said in a written statement that “the chaos and dysfunction of Washington, D.C. was on full display this past week.” Hinson, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said being on the brink of another government shutdown is unacceptable.