Ayesha Rascoe from NPR tells Senator Andy Kim, a democrat from New Jersey, about the strategy of his party aimed at the possible closure of the government.
Ayesha Rasko, owner:
President Donald Trump will meet tomorrow with the best leaders of Congress from both sides. The White House meeting takes just one day before the deadline to approve the legislation in order to avoid closing the government. To receive the latter about negotiations and what this means for public services, Senator Andy Kim now joined us. He is a democrat representing New Jersey. Good morning, senator.
Andy Kim: Good morning.
Rascoe: Senate leaders John Tun and Chuck Schumer and the leaders of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and Hakim Jeffris will meet with President Trump tomorrow. What do you expect to get out of this meeting?
Kim: Well, I'm glad that this meeting is taking place, and I am glad that President Trump changed his mind. I think this shows that the president is under pressure from his position before saying that he does not want to deal with the Democrats, does not want to negotiate. And I think it is because American people are now experiencing great pain. You know, I am here in New Jersey, I go to my state. The overwhelming majority people here told me about the constant problems that they face in terms of the cost of life, health and housing, and they want to relieve, and they do not see this from Donald Trump right now.
Rascoe: What is the party’s strategy – your party’s strategy – to enter into these negotiations?
Kim: Well, negotiations on the satisfaction of these exact needs from the American people. You know, they are horrified by their health costs. Starting on October 1, we will see that healthcare expenses are significantly increasing for many Americans, and we want to make sure that this is decided by this president, this republican administration, which did so much as to be able to hurt them, gutting Medicaid and a lot of other questions. Thus, we will fight to be able to reduce these expenses for Americans and help them satisfy the needs for their families.
Rascoe: If the Republicans do not want, as they said, to abandon some of the changes that came from the bill on the expenses that was adopted earlier this year, this will affect Medicaid, this will affect medical insurance, should democrats stop?
Kim: Well, look, you know, we will see how negotiations will go tomorrow from the point of view that Trump is ready to move on, because we know that, you know, Speaker Johnson and Republicans of Congress, they just do everything that Trump says. So, you know, come in, you can talk to Donald Trump and see how much this pressure comes to him. You know, he is someone, who said in the past that if there is a closure, that it is the president’s fault. So, let's see how far he is ready to go. But what we need to make sure that we are talking here is just high costs that people face. And exactly what I hear from people, simply – they simply use the word chaos, and they use the word “exhausted”. You know, they are exhausted by Donald Trump, and they do not count this chaos help them. In fact, this makes things more unpredictable in their lives.
Rascoe: But if there is a closure, it will also be chaotic, right? The Trump administration threatened masses of layouts throughout the government, if there is a closure. What would you say to those who will blame the Democrats of this?
Kim: Well, no, I don’t think they will blame the Democrats, because, I mean, look, even Donald Trump said: “You know, this is the president’s work to gather people together. You know, look, they see it like him who do not want to manage. Right now we see a situation where Donald Trump is literally trying to knock down and make out the other branches of the government. You know, he does not want to be able to do what we usually need to do from the point of view of the opportunity to negotiate. And the American people sees it. They see that he is a center, the reason for this chaos in their life.
Rascoe: Is there any plan for what will happen if there is a shutdown, and more and more federal workers will be released? Is there a message that the Democrats have? Do you know there is a plan to try to support people who lose their work?
Kim: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we fought all the time to be able to support federal workers. Previously, I was a federal civil servant under the Republicans and presidents -democratic presidents. I served after a few shutdowns. I did not receive a salary, despite the work. I know how difficult it is and I do not want to see it. But what we also see is just a flagrant lawlessness from Donald Trump right now. And when they threaten to dismiss federal employees, it seems like, how, you know, you know, you know, the mafia, right, just like, you know, we are going to do whatever we want. And people do not want this. So, you know, I think that this will have huge consequences for Donald Trump if he leads us along this path.
Rascoe: Should Americans worry about the necessary services, such as weather forecasting and federal emergency response, if there is a closure?
Kim: You know, having survived this several times, you know, we know some things that we will have to worry about, and this is what we are trying to reduce the gap. You know, we want to be able to make sure that, you know, this is that if you close if Donald Trump calls out, we will try to minimize losses and problems that the American people face. So, yes, this is part of the negotiations. You know, we will try to do everything possible to minimize if it comes to this. I hope we avoid this. You know, I hope that Donald Trump will come to these negotiations, wanting to be able to satisfy some of these needs that the American people faces, and show that, yes, you know, we must make sure that we are gathering together at this time.
Rasko: This is Senator Andy Kim from New Jersey. Thank you very much.
Kim: Thank you.
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