00:00stand. We just heard that interview there, that report from Chad Pergram at Fox News,
00:05who broke down a little bit about what happened on Friday. But for folks out there, can you explain
00:09where things do stand now? Right. Well, from all evidence, it seems that there is a stalemate
00:16and that there is no resolution in sight. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass this continuing
00:23resolution. And it seems that the Democrats have dug in on this issue, largely around health care
00:28and health care premiums on Obamacare. So one of the things that I would expect to see
00:35are more discussions. But really, the underlying issue here is a political one that neither party
00:43seems to be willing to budge on. And when you have this issue with a continuing resolution
00:49that's already been passed in the House, the House being in recess means that the Senate has to have
00:55this version passed or there'll be no progress going forward. When we discuss all of this,
01:02what would you say is the main really holdup that is preventing a deal? You touched on this,
01:08but what is that main holdup between the two parties? Well, there's the official holdup,
01:14which is this issue about health care premiums that are going to be resetting in January
01:18and that are going to affect those who are using Obamacare as a health insurance. And that is
01:25and that is a real political issue. It's a political issue also for Republicans who many of their
01:31constituents live that were in their districts or states are affected by this. But the continuing
01:38resolution is this stopgap measure to fund the government temporarily. And it is it is separate from
01:45the health care issue. Now, the politics of all this is also at play, as it was mentioned earlier,
01:50where Chuck Schumer, who has been criticized earlier by not being tough enough on the Trump
01:57administration and holding Republicans accountable, has, you know, gone along with the shutdown and has
02:04implemented that on this issue. And I think that there's political kind of maneuvering there as
02:09well. And I think that when you're looking at it long term, Democrats are ultimately looking
02:14at the 2026 midterms and thinking, well, we may have some criticism on the shutdown. But if we're
02:20able to kind of force the issue on the health care premiums, we can run on that in 26. And I think
02:26that that may be successful for them. It just depends on how the public perceives all of this long term.
02:33As far as Speaker Johnson coming out yesterday and saying we are canceling the votes that are
02:38scheduled for next week, what does that signal politically?
02:43I think that's a signal. So there's no room for negotiation on the CR. So if there was a change,
02:48let's say a kind of a renegotiated bill or resolution that would require it then to be passed
02:57in the House. And that presents its own sort of political issues because that's a very narrow
03:00Republican majority. And there's been some issues around some of the more fiscally conservative
03:05Republicans even wanting to pass a continuing resolution. So that would complicate matters.
03:11I think that what he's saying is, is that we're not coming back in session, which indicates that,
03:16you know, pass this version in the Senate or, you know, expect another week long of shutdown.
03:24So I think that what it really is trying to do is put pressure on Senate Democrats and the Senate
03:29at large to pass what's already under consideration.
03:33One thing that a lot of people have brought up, and I'm hoping that you can provide some clarity
03:38for folks out there, they have said, well, look, the Senate does have a majority Republican. So is
03:44there anything that Republicans can do to maybe bypass the Democrats and get something passed to
03:50reopen the government?
03:52Well, in this situation, it requires a 60 vote majority. So are a super majority. So in this
04:01context, there's nothing that can be done without Democratic support. And as, you know, already
04:06been kind of shown in the votes, there is some Democratic support. It's notable that some of
04:11the senators in that, and that the group that has defected includes senators that are from states,
04:17two of the three are from states that have, that are considered swing states. So again,
04:23nothing can be done unilaterally, there has to be part of this kind of bipartisan effort. Now,
04:30shutdowns, even though they're decried by both parties, are really a powerful tool that is used by
04:37those who are in the minority to kind of force concessions for the majority. And so I would,
04:43you know, look going forward, unless we can get to that 60 vote threshold, there's nothing that's going
04:48to be done. Are we seeing these shutdowns happen more often? As you said, it's so to speak, it is
04:57an effective tool when you're talking about something like this. Are we seeing more of these
05:02shutdowns or near shutdowns than we did in decades past? Or are we just maybe hearing about it more?
05:09No, I think it's definitely a new political phenomena that has become very regular in our
05:14kind of political life and the life of the Congress. One of the reasons is, is that it is
05:22a leverage point for those who are in the minority to force the majority to provide some sort of
05:28concessions. The other issue with it is, is that we exist in a political reality that's very polarized
05:35and that's reflected in the Congress with these razor thin majorities. And so having a 60 vote
05:41agreement on something becomes more difficult when you're divided like it is today with, you know,
05:48almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats with a little, with a couple of votes more for
05:52the Republicans. And then we have one Republican in the Senate who is voting against it. So that
05:58math becomes even harder. So one of the issues that you would see with shutdowns, I think, is just
06:04a byproduct of the political system and also that leverage that the minority party has been
06:11able to do, whether it be a Republican or a Democrat. Going forward, I would expect to see
06:16this to become a norm, although there is criticism around it and the ripple effects of it for the
06:22economy and for those who are in federal service. What message does a shutdown like this, what we're
06:28seeing right now, what message does it send to voters and to the American public as a whole?
06:34That's a very important point politically as well, is that a lot of people, when they view a shutdown
06:41from a political perspective, say, okay, who is to blame? Who owns the shutdown? And right now,
06:48the public opinion polls that I've seen have blame on both sides. Does that change over time? And does
06:54one party get to blame more than another? And does that become just politically unsustainable?
07:00There's also these real world ripple effects of a shutdown for those who are federal workers,
07:05those who may want to access federal services. And as that becomes more of an issue, does that
07:11also place pressure on politicians to end the shutdown? But again, one of the reasons that you
07:19see shutdowns in oftentimes is that the public opinion, which then distills into kind of political
07:24reality, is just not a discussion point around health care. So that may be something that has
07:29political dividends going forward. It just remains to be seen.
07:34And my last question for you here, where do we go from here? And what do we need to be watching
07:38for over the next several days? As we know, it does appear that this is going to last at least through
07:44the weekend, possibly longer here. So what do we need to be watching for to see what happens next?
07:51Well, I think that what will happen likely next week is some more votes, whether or not they get to
07:56that 60 threshold, I think is questionable. There's also I would watch and see how this is going to
08:03play out in terms of this health care issue that's been discussed. How does that really get resolved
08:09outside of adding that to the continuing resolution, which then would require the House to come back into
08:16session. So I would look at both of those those points. And I would also see public opinion. How is
08:21public opinion shifting right now? We don't see the immediate impact of a shutdown there. There's
08:29rumblings and there's certainly consequences, but it isn't as amplified as it will be as time
08:34dealing with scattered SEO data and tools, becoming more vocal as time goes on. And also look at the
08:41White House and see what they may be doing in terms of the shutdown. There's been a lot of discussion
08:45around whether or not this would be used as an opportunity to reduce the federal workforce,
08:50and whether or not that is a threat or a reality may play out next week as well.
08:57All right. Casey Myers, thank you so much, as always, for taking the time to be here with us.
09:01Anything else we missed? Anything you want to add before I let you go?
09:05Well, I think that this has become a political reality. And again, this is a short term measure.
09:10So this may be a discussion that we're having in the not too distant future again.
09:15Yep, that is very true. Thank you so much for being here. We definitely appreciate it.
09:20And we are keeping an eye on how this is impacting folks all over the country and looking specifically
09:27at our different affiliates as they cover this from each and every angle. I do want to send it
09:31over to Amelia Roy. She is over in Arizona and has more on how this is impacting the national parks.
09:38Most national parks like this one are still open. People come, park their cars and go on a hike.
09:46But yesterday when I was on the other end of the park, visitors saw a closed off gate where they
09:52thought that the park was closed altogether. It wasn't until some visitors saw locals parked on the
09:58side of the road and going through those hiking and biking paths that they realized that the park was
10:04in fact open. The official national parks website does list all the park closures, but sometimes
10:10the information online just doesn't match reality. I drove like nine hours yesterday and I get to
10:16petrified Forest National Park. I got there before five. That's when the gates closed supposedly,
10:22but the gate was already closed and there was a sign on the gate saying the park was closed due to
10:28lack of funding or the government shut down basically. Ahead of the shutdown, the national park service
10:32said it would furlough more than 9,000 employees, which means cutting more than half the staff and
10:39more than 40 former park superintendents who've been through this before signed a letter ahead of
10:44the shutdown urging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to close the parks completely saying past shutdowns
10:50in which gates remained open with limited staff have hurt our parks. Iconic symbols cut down and
10:56vandalized, trash piled up, habitats destroyed, and visitor safety jeopardized. If you don't act now,
11:02history is not just doomed to repeat itself. The damage could in fact be much worse. A Department
11:08of Interior spokesperson tells me current park operations will stay as they are throughout the
11:12shutdown. In Pima County, Amalia Roy, Fox News. And Amalia Roy, they are serving as both a reporter
11:20and a tour guide helping folks.
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