(The Center Square) – As partisan divides appear to deepen and prolong the partial government shutdown, bipartisan lawmakers said they are concerned about national security effects of the funding lapse.
U.S. Reps. Jason Crow, D-Co., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., spoke on Friday at an event hosted by the news organization NOTUS where they highlighted their concerns that a government shutdown will have negative national security implications in the near future.
Federal employees, including members of the military, will not get paid until the shutdown ends. Legislation would need to be passed by Oct. 13 for members of the military to receive their next paychecks by Oct. 15.
Crow blamed the Republican majority for the shutdown and criticized Speaker Mike Johnson’s move to keep the U.S. House of Representatives out of session.
“The first step is talking and negotiating and debating, which has to happen,” Crow said.
About 334,900 civilian employees at the Department of Defense would be furloughed during the government shutdown, according to a DoD contingency plan released before the shutdown took effect.
Crow said these employees operate grocery stores, daycare centers and medical care for service members and their families who live on military bases.
“The distraction is real and deep and will only get worse as time goes on,” Crow said.
Bacon said Democrats are rejecting the government’s continuing resolution to extend tax credits under levels approved by the Affordable Care Act. He also blamed the shutdown on Democrats’ anger toward President Donald Trump’s policies.
“They got to work with this president; he won,” Bacon said. “I’ve had to do the same thing, I don’t always agree with the president but I’m working my best to get him where I think he should be on Ukraine, tariffs and so forth.”
Crow said he is concerned about the healthcare industry’s effects from passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed in July. He said healthcare premiums will rise for Americans and rural hospitals will be closed due to tighter restrictions on Medicaid.
Crow also appeared to affirm Democrats’ anger toward Trump as a motivation for the federal shutdown.
“How in God’s name would somebody expect us to send more money to this administration and give them a blank check if in the last nine months all they have done is ignore Congress, ignore our authority and spend money however they want to spend it regardless of what the clear intent is,” Crow said.
Crow and Bacon agreed that Congress has abdicated some of its authority to govern as represented by the federal shutdown.
“Congress has normally protected its authorities and we’re not doing a good job of it right now,” Bacon said.
Bacon and Crow also expressed concern about the recent politicization of the military. They said the government shutdown and War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Sept. 30 speech to military generals in Quantico, Virginia, are evidence of political theatre in the military.
“They are very clearly trying to change the culture and the structure of our military starting at the lower ranks,” Crow said.
Former War Secretary Chuck Hagel, who also spoke at the NOTUS event, expressed concern about the politicization of the military during Trump’s second term.
“The president and the secretary essentially saying you will do what we tell you to do or we’ll fire you,” Hagel said, “that was clearly a politicization of the military.”
Hagel agreed that Congress has ceded much of its power to the president, particularly in the last several years. He said disagreements over funding are a prime example of the partisan division in the legislature.
“You go to Congress first as an American, not as a Republican not as a Democrat,” Hagel said. “In every vote you make, every position you take, should be in the interest of the people you represent.”
