As the government officially enters the second week of the shutdown, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota has a clear message to Democrats.

In a video obtained exclusively by Blaze News, Emmer ripped into Senate Democrats for putting partisan politics over the American people. Ever since Democrats refused to pass the Republicans' clean, nonpartisan funding bill before the September 30 deadline, Congress has been in a stalemate.

'All these Democrats are putting their political issue ahead of the American people.'

"The Democrats in the U.S. Senate have now voted 'no' on reopening the government seven times," Emmer says in the video obtained by Blaze News. "... You've got over 400,000 Minnesotans who rely on SNAP to support themselves. Our air traffic controllers aren't going to get paid. Our Customs and Border Patrol [sic] isn't going to get paid."

Notably, President Donald Trump's administration has made attempts to minimize pain for those affected by the shutdown, such as making sure our military service members don't miss their paychecks on October 15.

In the video, Emmer is seen standing in the United States Capitol near the Senate chamber, where over a half-dozen votes to reopen the government have been blocked by Democrats. Emmer also points out the harsh contrast between the two spending bills proposed by the respective parties.

"I'm standing in the rotunda. Behind me is where the Senate should be right now, voting to reopen the government," Emmer says in the video. "Instead, seven times now they have voted no."

The Republican-led spending bill is a bipartisan bill that continues funding the government at current spending levels through November 21. There are no ideological line items or anomalies in the GOP bill, whereas the Democrat bill is full of them. Emmer calls out Democrat Sen. Tina Smith, who shares his Minnesota constituency, for voting against every effort to keep the government open.

"You want to put illegals back on taxpayer-funded health care benefits while at the same time gutting our rural hospital fund of $50 billion that we created just this summer," Emmer says of Smith.

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"All these Democrats are putting their political issue ahead of the American people," Emmer continues in the video. "This is insane, and it's wrong."

"Our message is clear. Democrats: Reopen the government. Let's get back to work. Put the people before your politics. Stop hurting Americans. Let's get back to work and finish the job that we were all sent here to do."

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Exclusive: Tom Emmer torches Tim Walz's 'failed' leadership, says he should 'have his head examined'

House Majority Whip and Minnesota native Tom Emmer (R) bashed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for his "failure to lead" in the aftermath of the gruesome Minnesota shooting during an exclusive interview with Blaze News.

Following the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School, Emmer spoke about the heartbreak felt in the community while also criticizing Walz's repeated inaction to protect Minnesotans.

'There were warnings all along the way.'

"I'm a Minnesotan and father of seven kids, and we're a Catholic family," Emmer told Blaze News. "The Annunciation school is one of the strongest Catholic parishes in the Twin Cities."

"Words just can't describe the amount of heartbreak and anger that I think all of us feel about this unspeakable act of evil."

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The shooter was later identified as Robert Westman, a man who suffered from gender confusion, raising concerns about transgender gun ownership. Emmer said that rather than addressing Westman's mental health, Democratic policies like those backed by Walz exacerbate the issue.

"Everyone has their own challenges. We respect that. We understand that," Emmer told Blaze News. "But Tim Walz and all of these radical left-wing Democrats that look at a young man like the one involved in this case and tell them, 'You're confused. We're going to make it worse. We're going to encourage you to make it worse.'"

Under Walz's leadership, Minnesota became a "trans refuge" that allowed the state to take children with gender dysphoria away from their parents if they weren't giving them "gender-affirming care." Additionally, Catholic schools were on guard and asking for increased security following the Tennessee shooting in 2023, but Walz ignored their pleas.

"The trans community, God bless them for the challenges they already have, but the suicide in that community is well above the national average. Why aren't we talking about that?" Emmer added. "... He was screaming for help."

"There were warnings all along the way," Emmer told Blaze News.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Since the shooting, Walz and other Democratic officials have pointed the finger at firearms instead of the underlying motives that may have led Westman to commit the heinous act. Rather than politicizing the atrocity, Emmer said leaders should come together to address the "root of the problem."

"We should be focused on what the root of the problem is," Emmer told Blaze News. "It's mental health. It's a failure of people to actually speak up and follow the laws that are there and enforce them."

"It's all about us and them for Tim Walz, as opposed to how do we all work together and live together in peace and security and respect," Emmer told Blaze News.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Unfortunately, the recent violence in Minnesota was not an isolated incident. Like many other blue cities across the country, Minneapolis is plagued by high crime rates. Although Trump has previously extended a hand to blue cities like Minneapolis, Walz continues to dig his heels in.

"I'm hoping partisan, hateful, failed leaders like Tim Walz, JB Pritzker, and others follow the model," Emmer told Blaze News. "You don't have to embrace Donald Trump. ... But certainly you should care enough about your own people. The people that you work for that elected you to protect them and their families from the violence that we've been seeing in Minneapolis as a result of the failure to lead."

"Seriously, there's something wrong with Tim Walz," Emmer told Blaze News. "Somebody should have his head examined and offer him some help, because he's completely gone off the edge."

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Tim Walz grilled for comparing ICE agents to 'Nazi Gestapo'

During a Thursday hearing, former Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) was brutally grilled by Republican lawmakers for his past comments likening Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the "Nazi Gestapo."

Walz appeared alongside Democratic Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York to testify on sanctuary cities before the House Oversight Committee. During the hearing, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) confronted Walz for comments he made during a commencement ceremony in May where he said, "Donald Trump's modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the street."

'Inflammatory rhetoric such as yours ... is responsible for putting a target on the back of every ICE agent who is risking their life to protect our communities.'

The insinuation Walz made is that federal law enforcement agencies under the direction of President Donald Trump are like the Nazi secret police deployed by Adolf Hitler.

"When you said the words 'modern-day Gestapo,' you were referring to ICE agents," Emmer said. "Gestapo, by the way, sir, was the official secret police of Hitler's Nazi Germany. So you're calling ICE agents modern-day Nazis."

Governor Walz’s comments comparing ICE agents to the Nazi Gestapo is SICKENING.

ICE agents put their lives and safety on the line to arrest criminal illegal aliens let into our country. https://t.co/wUH9hilTRZ pic.twitter.com/QdxkxmQqcW
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 12, 2025

"Given the attacks on ICE agents that took place in Los Angeles over the weekend, don't you regard your dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric as a problem?" Emmer added.

As Emmer pointed out, recent ICE raids in California have been met with violent riots, which he says have been incited by the extreme rhetoric of Walz and other leftist politicians. During these riots, ICE agents and other members of law enforcement have been attacked with rocks, have dealt with arsonists, and have even had details about their location leaked, compromising their safety.

Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Walz stammered at Emmer's confrontation and failed to address his past comments.

"It saddens me that you refuse to express regret from comparing ICE to Nazis," Emmer said. "ICE agents are brave Americans who get up every morning, leave their families, and put their lives in harm's way to protect our country, sir. You, at the very least, owe an apology to these dedicated public servants."

"Inflammatory rhetoric such as yours, and the other governors on this panel, is responsible for putting a target on the back of every ICE agent who is risking their life to protect our communities."

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