Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., listens to testimony during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 29. In a recent interview on Morning Edition, Kiley discusses his decision to continue working during the government shutdown.
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Nell Redmond/AP
As the government shutdown drags on, most House members have gone home at the direction of Speaker Mike Johnson. But one Republican, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, still reports to his Capitol Hill office each morning.
“I’m looking for any and all constructive conversations toward getting us out of this mess,” Kiley told Morning Edition’s Michel Martin. “The good news is, I’ve had a number of those from folks on both sides of the aisle. The bad news is, the government is still shut down.”
Kiley, who represents California’s 3rd District, which includes Yosemite and Death Valley National Parks, has criticized Johnson’s decision to recess the House while the shutdown continues.
“It’s all the more urgent given the fact that the government is shut down and we’re starting to see people losing their food assistance benefits. We’re seeing flight delays and all of the other compounding costs to the American people,” he said.
Kiley says the pause has frozen normal work.
“We have 20 committees in the House of Representatives, countless subcommittees that were supposed to be doing things each of the last four weeks,” Kiley said.
Johnson argues keeping lawmakers home pressures the Senate to act on a seven-week funding bill. Kiley disagrees.
“Clearly, it’s not working,” he said. “Sometimes you have to work with people who have a different position in order to find common ground.”
Democrats have criticized Johnson’s handling of the standoff, accusing the speaker of using the recess to delay the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election to fill the seat of her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona. Johnson has rejected that claim, saying the delay is unrelated. Kiley said he supports seating Adelita Grijalva without delay.
“She won her election. I don’t know why this is even an issue,” he said.
He added that he’s open to negotiating over the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies — a key reason Democrats have refused to support the current funding bill.
“There’s enough interest on both sides for a deal,” Kiley said. “I don’t see why we’re not talking about that now.”
For now, he’s continuing to show up to his office each morning, an act to remind colleagues that Congress should still be working.
“We should have a functioning House of Representatives,” Kiley said.
This live interview was edited for digital by Treye Green.
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