House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) took direct aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Sunday night, accusing him of “holding America hostage” to fund healthcare for illegal aliens—while gutting support for struggling rural hospitals.
Appearing on *Sunday Night in America* with Trey Gowdy, Scalise blasted Democrats for prolonging what he called the “Schumer Shutdown,” a crisis entirely of their own making. He argued that Schumer’s reckless political gamesmanship has left American servicemembers facing delayed paychecks—all so the Democratic leader can appease the radical left and protect his own political career.
“There’s so much misinformation out there,” Gowdy began. “Help our viewers understand what Democrats—who, by the way, are in the minority—are insisting on to reopen the government.”
Scalise didn’t hold back. “Well, Trey, you hit the nail on the head,” he said. “Chuck Schumer’s biggest fear isn’t the government being shut down—it’s getting outflanked by AOC and the far-left socialists in his own party. Our polling shows that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could actually beat him in a primary. That’s all he cares about—his political future, not the American people.”
The Louisiana Republican went on to explain that Schumer’s stunt is putting real Americans—especially the military—at risk. “He surely doesn’t care about the lives of American families, our soldiers, our men and women in uniform, who will not get paychecks next week because of this crazy move to shut down the government,” Scalise said.
While House Republicans have already passed a responsible funding bill, Scalise noted that Schumer refuses to allow even a handful of Democrats to break ranks and support reopening the government. “We passed our bill in the House—Hakeem Jeffries tried to whip his members into shutting it down, but we still got it done with Republican votes,” Scalise said. “Now it’s sitting in the Senate, and all it would take is five Democrats to do the right thing. Instead, Schumer’s blocking it.”
But Scalise said the real scandal lies in what Schumer and Senate Democrats are demanding in return for ending the shutdown. “It’s a trillion and a half dollars in new, unrelated spending,” he revealed. “And here’s the kicker—they’re gutting funding for rural hospitals while talking about ‘expanding healthcare.’ They’re literally cutting care for rural Americans so they can hand out taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants.”
In short, Scalise argued, Schumer’s priorities are completely backward. “That’s part of what’s in Chuck Schumer’s bill,” he said. “It shows you exactly where their loyalties lie. They don’t care if our troops don’t get their paychecks—but they’re sure ready to spend billions on healthcare for illegals.”
The Majority Leader’s comments highlight the growing frustration among Republicans who say Democrats are exploiting the shutdown to push an extreme spending agenda. While President Trump’s administration has used tariff revenue to keep essential services running and ensure troop pay continues, Senate Democrats have refused to compromise—insisting that taxpayer dollars continue flowing to non-citizens and left-wing pet projects.
As Scalise put it bluntly: “Democrats are choosing illegal immigrants over American citizens, politics over patriotism, and socialism over sanity.”
For millions of Americans—especially those in rural towns whose hospitals are already struggling—Scalise’s warning hits home. The Schumer Shutdown isn’t about compassion or fairness. It’s about power—and the people paying the price are the ones who play by the rules, serve their country, and just want Washington to put America first.
