It’s a busy day in Washington as Republican House leaders struggle to corral the Freedom Caucus and extend government funding. A federal shutdown seems inevitable with a Saturday night deadline looming. News also broke this morning that Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein – the longest serving female Senator in history – died at 90 Thursday night. Elected in 1992, her apparent cognitive decline in recent years fueled calls for her to step down. WAMC spoke with Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren moments ago.
WARREN: Okay, so let's start with how much pain a government shutdown is going to cause us right here in Massachusetts. You know, we have about 25,000 federal workers in Massachusetts. These are public servants just trying to do their jobs, trying to help people. They have mortgages, they have childcare bills, they’ve got to put gas in the tank and food on the table, and they're not going to get their paychecks. They'll get them eventually, but they're going to be delayed. Same thing for military service members. Not going to get paid until after the shutdown. And in Massachusetts, we’ve got about 3,300 people that that's going to affect. And just think about that- When you're talking about that many people not getting their paychecks, it has a lot of other effects. It has effects in restaurants, it has effects just throughout our economy. In addition to that, we got about 125,000 people, mamas and babies in Massachusetts, that get food assistance. So, this is- Come on, this is baby formula. And everybody's trying to scramble together to see if we can keep it going a few days, but the federal money will be gone, and assistance will be gone. Head Start centers in Massachusetts will be closed because they're funded by the federal government. Small business loans, any new loans that people have in, all the processing will stop. People count on those small business loans, and have made plans around that, and all of that will come to a halt. So, we’ve just got place after place after place that we're going to feel this in the Massachusetts economy. And here's the part that really gets to me, that the pain that people will feel is not just collateral damage to what the Republican extremists are trying to do. It's the point. The pain is the point. The chaos is the point. Because this handful of Republican extremists over in the House – it's not all of them – but these Republican extremists who are driving the shutdown right now, with [Speaker of the House Kevin] McCarthy, these people think that if there's more pain imposed on the American people, more chaos in our country, more damage to our economy, it increases the chances that Donald Trump will be elected in 2024. That's what this is all about.
WAMC: This all comes with polls looking pretty negative for President Joe Biden heading into next year's election. What do you think the thinking is on the Republican side of the aisle with this decision to steer the country into the shutdown? Surely that must loom over next year's election.
I think that's exactly- You put your finger on it. And that is, this shutdown that the Republicans are trying to engineer here is about the 2024 election. And these Republican extremists seem to say pretty openly that if they can do damage to the economy, if they can make people suffer more, then that increases the chances that Donald Trump will be elected in 2024. You know that – you'll have to take my word for this – do you remember back when the Democrats did a whole lot better in 2022 than everybody expected in the midterms? Donald Trump said openly that the reason that Republicans didn't do better with the American people were not feeling enough pain. And since then, the economy's gotten even better. Unemployment is at record low, wages are outpacing inflation, the economy has been doing better. These Republican extremists are trying to create more chaos, more pain in order to try to help Donald Trump. That's what this is all about.
Now, you're no stranger to the debate stage. Have you followed the Republican primary debate so far? And if so, what's your takeaway from watching that that cadre of candidates hash it out on stage?
You know, I just don't get what the point is. I can't- I watch them, and I just think, what are you guys doing up there? Everybody running for vice president except Chris Christie. And why? What are you trying to tell the American people? I just don't get it. Donald Trump is clearly the one who is calling the shots, and the Republican Party – and with a handful of exceptions like Chris Christie – everybody dances to his tune.
I'm interested in your thoughts on how the President and the Democratic Party is being perceived in the face of this. It seems like former President Trump faces so many legal issues and a great degree of controversy on the national stage- What's the disconnect between the popularity of the Democrats and Trump, who seems to be somewhat unaffected in the polls by all of this controversy?
You know, look, I’ll just be honest with you on this stuff, Josh- I'm not great on polls. I'm not a great pundit on them. But I will say this- The President is doing a really terrific job. Like I said a minute ago, unemployment is low, wages are outpacing inflation. But I mean in ways that that you feel every day like $35 insulin, and the fact that seniors are going to see a $2,000 cap on what they spend on medical care, and that junk fees are getting hammered back and that we have a president who's fighting to cancel student loan debt, has already cancelled student loan debt for tens of thousands of people in Massachusetts, about 3.4 million people nationwide. He's doing what Joe Biden does best- He's out there fighting for working families. And it's not very flashy, it doesn't get a headline every day, but he's making a real difference. And I think when we get down to the short strokes in the election season, not 14 months out, but down closer to the election, everybody kind of has their election hat on- I think the fact that he and Vice President [Kamala] Harris are doing a really good job is what's going to matter.
This morning news broke that your colleague Senator Dianne Feinstein passed away at 90. What are the reactions like in DC? And what are your own reflections on the senator today?
She was an extraordinary leader at a time when that was especially tough for women. She led the assault weapons ban back in the 1990s. She stood up courageously after 9/11 and said, our nation is not going to be a nation that embraces torture, we are going to be a nation that lives up to our values every day. And she did the hard work often behind the scenes in the Senate Intelligence Committee to hold government officials in the US and around the world accountable for following our laws that are on the books. She fought hard for LGBTQ rights, equal marriage. She's someone who has a great legacy, and I admire all that she's done. She was the longest serving woman in the history of the United States of America. And we're going to miss her both as a leader and a friend.
The senator, who was 90, chose to remain in office over the past few years despite increasingly evident signs of cognitive decline. Do you think she made the right decision? And what impact do you think that will have on her legacy and standards for our democratic representation?
I think her legacy will be the battles she fought. The battles for better gun safety, that- Remember, for 10 years, we had an assault weapons ban in the United States. If people want to talk about her memory and how to think about it and how to honor it, my view is, then let's extend the assault weapons ban that saved lives for the decade that it was in place, and let's put it in place now. Let's be the nation that says we're going to live our values every day. I think that's her legacy, and I hope it's a living legacy.
But that choice to persist through those issues- Any reflection on that?
I know that she did what she believed was her dead level best to serve the people of California, and this is not a time when I'm going to try to second guess that. I just learned a few hours ago that she has passed, and today for me is a time to honor her memory and honor what she was able to accomplish in her long career.
