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Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke sounded the alarm on Friday’s Wake Up America, urging Congress to avoid another crippling government shutdown and “get back to the appropriations process” so lawmakers can do the people’s work. His message was blunt: stop the political theater and return to regular order so the committees that write the bills can do their job.
Zinke told Newsmax that the longer the shutdown drags on, the worse it gets for everyday Americans — noting unions like the AFGE are now pleading for a clean continuing resolution and that the shutdown costs roughly $400 million a day. He was right to point out that it’s not senators or Beltway elites who suffer first, it’s families relying on WIC, SNAP, and critical services when Washington plays brinksmanship.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Zinke reminded viewers he’s been pushing for responsible, timely funding rather than Democrat “megabills” that hide runaway spending. He voted for a short-term continuing resolution in September to buy Congress time to finish the twelve appropriations bills the American people deserve. That’s the kind of pragmatic conservatism — defend the budget, protect services, and force real debate — voters elected Republicans to deliver.
Enough with excuses: Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, have repeatedly walked into political dead ends and left the country paying the price, a point Zinke didn’t shy away from when he called out leadership that puts politics over people. Meanwhile the shutdown has stretched into November and is hurting transportation, contractors, and federal families who keep our country running, proving this isn’t a theoretical dispute but a self-inflicted wound.
Washington conservatives have to be clear-eyed — we must avoid a shutdown because it’s cruel to working Americans, but we also cannot surrender our principles by signing blank checks for big government. The solution is to return to appropriations, pass targeted spending bills that secure the border and protect veterans, and stop using omnibus deals to sneak in partisan giveaways. If Republicans insist on both fiscal discipline and governing, they can force a better outcome than the status quo of chaos and compromise-by-capitulation.
Patriots across America should demand less kabuki and more results: hold appropriators accountable, push leadership to stop the posturing, and insist on votes that fund genuine priorities without expanding the size of government. Zinke’s plea for compromise from both sides is not a call to cave — it’s a demand that Congress do its job and stop treating budgets like campaign props.
Now is the time for conservative leadership to prove it can both fight and govern. Stand with lawmakers who wield strength with responsibility, support targeted appropriations over crisis-driven politics, and make Washington choose service to citizens over service to ideology. The American people deserve nothing less.
