Murkowski blasts shutdown: ‘This never should have happened’

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) blasted the partial government shutdown on Friday after President Trump agreed to reopen the government, saying that it “never should have happened.”

Murkowski said that while she was happy a deal had been reached to fully reopen the government, there is “never a good reason to have a government shutdown.”

“This never should have happened. … There’s never a good reason to have a government shutdown in the first place,” Murkowski said. “We’ve demonstrated that we can do it, but it sure isn’t something that should be done.”

{mosads}President Trump announced that he and congressional leadership had locked down a deal to reopen the quarter of the government currently closed and would fund it through Feb. 15. In exchange, Congress would agree to start a conference committee to take up the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, including border funding.

Murkowski has repeatedly vented her frustration about the partial shutdown, which entered its 35th day on Friday, and worked as part of a bipartisan group to clinch the short-term funding deal to reopen the government.

She added that Congress should take shutdowns “off the table.” Multiple bills have been introduced that would prevent future shutdowns by automatically creating a continuing resolution.

Murkowski added that workers impacted by the shutdown are saying “for Heaven’s sake, Congress, make sure you don’t put us through this again and count me in that camp.”

“I don’t want them thinking: am I only going to be able to breathe now for three weeks? What happens after that? We owe it to not only our federal workers but we owe it to all America to take that anxiety out of this process,” she added.