Outgoing GOP lawmaker blasts shutdown: ‘Things are not well in the USA’

Outgoing Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) on Saturday lamented the “instability & chaos” in Washington heading into the latest government shutdown, noting that the last few days have been more turbulent than any he can remember.

“Still with the benefit (or curse) of an inside perspective, I must say that the instability & chaos in our government the past few days has been particularly pronounced – worse than at any point during my service in Congress, & really, my lifetime,” Curbelo tweeted.

“Things are not well in the USA,” he added.

Still with the benefit (or curse) of an inside perspective, I must say that the instability & chaos in our government the past few days has been particularly pronounced – worse than at any point during my service in Congress, & really, my lifetime. Things are not well in the USA.

— Carlos Curbelo (@carloslcurbelo) December 22, 2018

Curbelo, a moderate Republican who lost his reelection bid last month and will leave Congress in January, is one of eight House Republicans who voted against more than $5 billion in funding for President Trump’s border wall this week.{mosads}

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), another House Republican who voted against the funding for Trump’s wall and is retiring next month, similarly blasted the “chaos” surrounding the funding fight this week.

“I’m going out [with] a bang with the chaos, uncertainty and the drama that I have come to know and expect out of Congress,” she told CNN on Thursday. “And to expect otherwise is just not rational. Just to expect anything other than unpredictability out of President Trump is foolish.”

The House managed to pass the measure with $5 billion in border funding, but it was stonewalled in the Senate, triggering a partial government shutdown at the end of the day on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of government employees will be furloughed or will work without pay in the meantime.

The White House early in the week had signaled it would accept a funding bill to keep the government open that contained less than Trump’s desired $5 billion in wall funding, but the president reversed course late in the week amid criticism from his staunchest conservative supporters.

Friday’s shutdown, which affects about 25 percent of the federal government, is the third shutdown in the past year.

It capped off a tumultuous few days in Washington that saw Trump announce a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, despite concerns from lawmakers and Pentagon officials. The Trump administration has also indicated it may draw down forces in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary James Mattis announced Thursday he will resign from his position effective in February after he reportedly was unable to get Trump to change his mind on his Syria strategy. Mattis’s resignation letter was filled with implicit criticism of the president’s treatment of U.S. allies.