Press Releases
Webster and Florida Republican Colleagues Urge Schumer, Durbin to End the Democrat Shutdown
November 4, 2025
Washington, D.C. — Florida Congressman Daniel Webster, R-Clermont, along with Congressman Vern Buchanan and 16 members of the Florida Republican congressional delegation sent a leader to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) urging Senate Democrats to pass House Republicans’ clean continuing resolution to end the Democrat Shutdown.
“On behalf of all Floridians, we ask that you do the right thing and vote for the clean continuing resolution to pay our federal workers and servicemembers, restore crucial benefits programs like SNAP and WIC and allow Americans to once again access essential health services. Floridians and Americans deserve a government that puts them above politics. It’s time for Senate Democrats to stop holding government funding hostage and join House Republicans to reopen the government for the American people,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter was cosigned by Florida Reps. Aaron Bean, Gug Bilirakis, Kat Cammack, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Randy Fine, Scott Frankin, Carlos Giménez, Mike Haridopolos, Laurel Lee, Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Jimmy Patronis, John Rutherford, and Maria Salazar.
Read the full letter here or below.
Dear Senate Minority Leader Schumer and Senate Minority Whip Durbin:
With the government now shut down for over a month, Americans across the country are feeling the pain and witnessing firsthand the consequences of Senate Democrats refusing to put politics aside and responsibly fund the government. As members of the Florida Congressional Delegation, we urge you to stop giving in to the far-left voices in your party, come to the table and vote for the House-passed clean continuing resolution (CR).
Instead of supporting this clean, responsible measure, Senate Democrats have chosen to hold government funding hostage in pursuit of a reckless $1.5 trillion partisan spending package filled with wasteful priorities. As you know, this proposal includes taxpayer funded health care for illegal immigrants, bailouts for favored media outlets and cuts to rural health programs. While Senate Democrats play politics, hardworking American families are left to pay the price.
The pain our constituents across Florida are feeling is real, and their suffering will only continue to worsen. This past Saturday, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) officially ran out of funds. Forty-two million Americans, including nearly three million Floridians, have lost access to their SNAP benefits. Furthermore, seven million low-income mothers and children across our country relying on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) assistance are actively watching their benefits vanish as federal funds dry up. The crucial benefits that low-income families depend on to put food on their tables will no longer be replenished, leaving many to go hungry.
While this senseless shutdown is undoubtedly going to affect the most vulnerable populations, it is also directly impacting two million federal employees — many of whom continue to work despite not knowing when their next paycheck will arrive. 155,000 federal employees in Florida are now going without pay. These workers still have to pay bills such as childcare, mortgages, rent payments and car payments. Whether it is the air traffic controller keeping our skies safe or the federal police officer protecting our communities, it is unconscionable to tell these hardworking men and women that political gamesmanship takes precedence over their livelihoods.
Beyond the loss of paychecks and benefits, there are far-reaching consequences to refusing to act. Since October 1st, Floridians and other Americans nationwide have lost access to crucial health programs that would have been renewed under House Republicans’ CR but are now shuttered. One such program, “Hospital at Home,” allows patients to receive high-quality care in the comfort and convenience of their own home, which is often a less costly setting of care. Due to the Senate Democrats’ refusal to pass the CR, this vital program has been discontinued, meaning Medicare beneficiaries have been forced from their homes and now must receive care in hospitals or facilities.
Whether it is the single mom of three relying on SNAP benefits to feed her children, the air traffic controller under immense stress while trying to put two kids through college or the 85-year-old cancer patient who relies on a “Hospital-at-Home” program to receive care in a familiar setting, Senate Democrats’ refusal to vote for the clean CR is harming real people across the state of Florida and our country.
For these reasons and more, we implore you to end this unnecessary shutdown. On behalf of all Floridians, we ask that you do the right thing and vote for the clean continuing resolution to pay our federal workers and servicemembers, restore crucial benefits programs like SNAP and WIC and allow Americans to once again access essential health services. Floridians and Americans deserve a government that puts them above politics. It’s time for Senate Democrats to stop holding government funding hostage and join House Republicans to reopen the government for the American people.
“On behalf of all Floridians, we ask that you do the right thing and vote for the clean continuing resolution to pay our federal workers and servicemembers, restore crucial benefits programs like SNAP and WIC and allow Americans to once again access essential health services. Floridians and Americans deserve a government that puts them above politics. It’s time for Senate Democrats to stop holding government funding hostage and join House Republicans to reopen the government for the American people,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter was cosigned by Florida Reps. Aaron Bean, Gug Bilirakis, Kat Cammack, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Randy Fine, Scott Frankin, Carlos Giménez, Mike Haridopolos, Laurel Lee, Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Jimmy Patronis, John Rutherford, and Maria Salazar.
Read the full letter here or below.
Dear Senate Minority Leader Schumer and Senate Minority Whip Durbin:
With the government now shut down for over a month, Americans across the country are feeling the pain and witnessing firsthand the consequences of Senate Democrats refusing to put politics aside and responsibly fund the government. As members of the Florida Congressional Delegation, we urge you to stop giving in to the far-left voices in your party, come to the table and vote for the House-passed clean continuing resolution (CR).
Instead of supporting this clean, responsible measure, Senate Democrats have chosen to hold government funding hostage in pursuit of a reckless $1.5 trillion partisan spending package filled with wasteful priorities. As you know, this proposal includes taxpayer funded health care for illegal immigrants, bailouts for favored media outlets and cuts to rural health programs. While Senate Democrats play politics, hardworking American families are left to pay the price.
The pain our constituents across Florida are feeling is real, and their suffering will only continue to worsen. This past Saturday, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) officially ran out of funds. Forty-two million Americans, including nearly three million Floridians, have lost access to their SNAP benefits. Furthermore, seven million low-income mothers and children across our country relying on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) assistance are actively watching their benefits vanish as federal funds dry up. The crucial benefits that low-income families depend on to put food on their tables will no longer be replenished, leaving many to go hungry.
While this senseless shutdown is undoubtedly going to affect the most vulnerable populations, it is also directly impacting two million federal employees — many of whom continue to work despite not knowing when their next paycheck will arrive. 155,000 federal employees in Florida are now going without pay. These workers still have to pay bills such as childcare, mortgages, rent payments and car payments. Whether it is the air traffic controller keeping our skies safe or the federal police officer protecting our communities, it is unconscionable to tell these hardworking men and women that political gamesmanship takes precedence over their livelihoods.
Beyond the loss of paychecks and benefits, there are far-reaching consequences to refusing to act. Since October 1st, Floridians and other Americans nationwide have lost access to crucial health programs that would have been renewed under House Republicans’ CR but are now shuttered. One such program, “Hospital at Home,” allows patients to receive high-quality care in the comfort and convenience of their own home, which is often a less costly setting of care. Due to the Senate Democrats’ refusal to pass the CR, this vital program has been discontinued, meaning Medicare beneficiaries have been forced from their homes and now must receive care in hospitals or facilities.
Whether it is the single mom of three relying on SNAP benefits to feed her children, the air traffic controller under immense stress while trying to put two kids through college or the 85-year-old cancer patient who relies on a “Hospital-at-Home” program to receive care in a familiar setting, Senate Democrats’ refusal to vote for the clean CR is harming real people across the state of Florida and our country.
For these reasons and more, we implore you to end this unnecessary shutdown. On behalf of all Floridians, we ask that you do the right thing and vote for the clean continuing resolution to pay our federal workers and servicemembers, restore crucial benefits programs like SNAP and WIC and allow Americans to once again access essential health services. Floridians and Americans deserve a government that puts them above politics. It’s time for Senate Democrats to stop holding government funding hostage and join House Republicans to reopen the government for the American people.
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