Government Shutdown: Rep. Schweikert Optimistic, Says Slowdown Won’t Happen

Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., said on Sunday he and his constituents can work together to  prevent a looming government shutdown on Friday.

“[With] every fiber in my being, there’s not going to be a government slowdown,” the congressman told Maria Bartiromo during an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

If lawmakers in Washington fail to pass the budget by Friday, the government would run out of money and the operation of non-essential services (such as national parks) would be suspended. The most recent shutdown took place in September and October of 2013. During that period, 800,000 federal workers were furloughed.

However, Schweikert believes Congress will be able to put together a funding package this week to avoid a shutdown, though it won’t be a simple task.

“The tough part is we have to find eight votes in the Senate to avoid the Senate filibuster. So we’re going to have to find what brings those Senate Democrats along and we’ll probably have to put that in the way we designed the language in the House,” he explained.