STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales joins us next. He represents the 23rd District in Texas, which includes roughly 800 miles of the southern border. It's a district the size of a state. Congressman, good morning.
TONY GONZALES: Good morning, Steve. Thanks for having me on.
INSKEEP: Heard your wife was furloughed because she works for the Air Force. So what are the conversations like at home?
GONZALES: Yeah. There's a lot of people that have been impacted by this, and my family's included. My wife is furloughed. And I think back to my time in the military. I served 20 years in the military. There were multiple times where there were government shutdowns where our family didn't get paid. Thankfully, in this shutdown, President Trump is making sure that the troops are getting paid and now some DHS employees. But the sooner we can get back - we, being Congress - can get back to passing our bills, the better off all Americans will be.
INSKEEP: It's true that the president is finding money elsewhere to pay military members and some other people. But I am curious. With a federal worker right in your family, how do you view the administration also responding to the shutdown by firing federal workers?
GONZALES: Well, it's a mixed bag. One, I do believe there is too much bureaucracy in government, period. I don't care what department you're in. But, two, there are also some amazing federal employees all throughout our country that are doing great work. So really, in my eyes, you need to go through with a scalpel and kind of find out how do you make a department more efficient without, you know, gutting the functions of what they do. That's the balance of it, and frankly, that's the role that Congress needs to be playing. In the House, we've done that through the appropriations process. I sit on the Appropriations Committee. We've passed all 12 bills out of committee and several bills out of the House floor. I hope the Senate takes up many of these bills.
INSKEEP: You're pointing out that it would be good to go through carefully and that it's Congress' job. Do you agree that the president has the authority on his own to be firing people not, apparently, based on the criteria that you laid out, but based on what he considers to be Democrat agencies?
GONZALES: I don't know exactly if there - people are getting fired yet. You know, there have been some mixed reporting on that. I do appreciate the fact that the president is ensuring that agencies are getting paid, like - once again, like our troops are getting paid. That is important. That's an important aspect of it. But the sooner we can get back to regular order, the better we will be. You know, in the House, we had a bipartisan bill that passed over 20 days ago. To me, that is going to be the bill that ultimately passes to reopen the government. Whether that's today, two weeks or two months from now, that is going to be the way we're going to get out of this.
INSKEEP: As you probably know, there's been some criticism of the House for staying out of session. Speaker Mike Johnson says he refuses to bring you back until the government is reopened. The minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, says Republicans are starting their fourth week of vacation. Do you see it that way?
GONZALES: Well, one, any time members are back in the district, I think that's a positive for everybody. We're closest to the people, and we can hear directly from our constituents. But, you know, every member is different. I've been up to Washington every week during the shutdown. I'll be back up there on Wednesday and Thursday, meeting with, you know, world leaders, meeting with constituents, kind of doing business as usual, trying to find a way - if there's anything that I can do to be helpful to get us out of this shutdown. And I honestly think a lot of my Republican colleagues are doing the exact same thing. So yeah, no. This is far from a vacation, especially as you alluded to, you know, when my wife isn't getting paid.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
GONZALES: And we've got a small Catholic family of six to provide for, so a lot of us are anxious. And my family's included.
INSKEEP: Can you imagine a compromise?
GONZALES: No. There will be no compromise. Republicans aren't going to budge. We're not going to break. We're not going to bend. This is going to - the government will shut down when Senate Democrats pass a clean CR. And then after that clean CR, I think there'll be a huge opportunity to pass these appropriation bills for the duration of the year, because I think everybody will be exhausted with the shutdown.
INSKEEP: Do you expect then Democrats simply to give in entirely and go along with the Republican agenda?
GONZALES: I expect what has already happened. You've had some bipartisanship in the House when we passed this bill. You've seen some bipartisanship over the 10 votes. You've had some Senate Democrats come on board. I suspect you will see more Senate Democrats come on board at whatever time they choose, and that's how we will get to 60 votes. It won't be something different, though. It'll be a clean CR, which kicks the can down the road but gives us a few extra weeks to, once again, pass these appropriation bills that - I think there's already a - I know for a fact there's already a package teed up. The ag bill, the ledge bill and the military VA bill is already teed up. And then there's a package right behind that that is also teed up. So I think once we get out of this shutdown, we'll be in a much better spot than we are now.
INSKEEP: We've just got about 20 seconds left, but aren't there constituents of yours who will be affected by this drastic increase in Obamacare subsidies.
GONZALES: That's a complicated issue. And that's one reason why I think Congress needs to get back to work, so we can discuss these things. These aren't things you just kind of sign with a pen or erase with an eraser. This is what Congress needs to be doing - having these tough conversations. The longer we're in this shutdown, the harder it is for us to have those tough conversations.
INSKEEP: Congressman Tony Gonzales, Republican, of Texas. It's a pleasure talking with you, sir. Hope to have you back. Thanks so much.
GONZALES: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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