BLITZER: “I want to get reaction right now from Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. I know that you and almost all the other Democrats voted against this spending bill when it came up in the House of Representatives. How disappointed are you in the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer right now for giving it the green light and encouraging his fellow Senate Democrats to vote in favor of this continuing resolution?”
Pressley: “Well, you know, Wolf, let me just say that it‘s important to remind people how we got here. We find ourselves on the brink of a Republican-manufactured shutdown, which no one wants. But the options here are not a Republican manufactured government shutdown or a Republican ripoff, which means to gut the essential services that are essential for people‘s lives, veterans, health care and food assistance for our seniors, housing assistance that helps our most vulnerable. There is another option here on the table, and that is a 30-day stopgap spending bill, which Democrats are ready to vote on now so that we can actually do the work of a bipartisan negotiation. They need to advance this Trump spending bill, this harmful Trump spending bill. They need 60 votes and they don‘t have them. So, Senate Democrats should not be ceding any ground. We are — they are the final sort of line of defense here in the face of this hostile government takeover. And so I‘m appealing to all of our Senate Democrats, when your constituents are already experiencing so much pain, are so fearful about what could come their way, do not be complicit in this wholesale harm. Hold the line. Listen to your constituents. Center them in this moment. See them. Center them and fight like hell for them.”