This week marks the 33rd day of the ongoing federal government shutdown, which Representative Paul Gosar attributes to Senate Democrats, including Arizona Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly. According to Gosar, House Republicans passed a funding bill over a month ago, but the measure has stalled in the Senate due to a 60-vote requirement. Republicans hold 53 seats, requiring at least seven Democrats to support reopening the government.
Gosar outlines several consequences of the prolonged shutdown: approximately 42 million Americans may lose access to SNAP benefits, including 900,000 in Arizona; more than 20,000 flights were canceled or delayed this week; and two million Americans missed paychecks.
He challenges claims that Republicans control all branches of government and can end the shutdown unilaterally. Gosar lists thirteen Senate votes where most Democrats opposed reopening measures:
· Friday, September 19, 2025 (44-48)
· Tuesday, September 30, 2025 (55-45)
· Wednesday, October 1, 2025 (55-45)
· Friday, October 3, 2025 (54-44)
· Monday, October 6, 2025 (52-42)
· Wednesday, October 8, 2025 (54-45)
· Thursday, October 9, 2025 (54-45)
· Tuesday, October 14, 2025 (49-45)
· Wednesday, October 15, 2025 (51-44)
· Thursday, October 16, 2025 (51-45)
· Monday, October 20, 2025 (50-43)
· Wednesday, October 22, 2025 (54-46)
· Tuesday, October 28, 2025 (54-45)
Gosar also addresses provisions in the Democrats’ proposal that he says would expand healthcare access for non-citizens. He states: “According to section 2141 of the Democrats’ proposal to open the government, they are insisting on a provision that would give illegals access to free healthcare. As Vice President JD Vance recently said,’It’s not something that we made up. It’s not a talking point. It is in the text of the bill that they gave to us to reopen the government.'”
He adds: “Their proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on healthcare for illegals and other non-citizens over the next decade. It gets worse. The proposal would also allow those improperly granted asylum and parole under Biden’s open borders scheme to receive Medicaid and it would require Medicaid to pay more for emergency care provided to illegal aliens than it does for American patients who are disabled, elderly or children.”
Gosar references an announcement by the Trump administration about plans “to claw back over $1 billion in federal Medicaid dollars that are being spent in Democrat-run states including California, Illinois, Washington Colorado and Oregon and Washington D.C. on healthcare for illegal aliens.” He continues: “The bottom-line is don’t believe their bull. The truth is that nothing is more shameful than Democrats using the American people’s pain and suffering as leverage for their radical agenda.”
Quoting Congresswoman Emilia Sykes: “We know that people are going to suffer if we don’t open the government… And I’m just going to make it as plain as possible: people will go hungry.”
Dr. Oz held a press conference highlighting findings from a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services audit identifying over $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments made on behalf of illegal aliens. Dr. Oz stated that while federal law prohibits such eligibility,”state and local practices have been funding illegal aliens through ‘loopholes.’ Such loopholes allow Medicaid dollars to be used by states for so-called ’emergency treatment’ regardless of a patient’s citizenship or immigration status… In other words,total fraud and waste on the American taxpayer.”
Dr. Oz called for improved verification protocols:”Given the magnitude of these findings…the federal government and states must crack down on existing verification,enforcement,and data-matching protocols…Every dollar spent on an illegal alien is a theft of services to Americans who lawfully qualify for benefits.”
Gosar maintains,”It bears repeating: Democrats are demanding continued funding of healthcare for illegal aliens as a condition for reopening the government.This is the reason the federal government has been shut down for thirty-three days.”
In recent elections,Gosar won re-election against Quacy Smith in 2024 with over sixty-five percent of votes,and previously defeated Richard Grayson in 2022.
The newsletter concludes with reminders about photo submissions from constituents and links to external news stories related to current political events.
