Tom DeLay to GOP: 'Stick to Your Guns,' Even if That Means Shutdown

Republicans should worry more about sticking to their principles than preventing a government shutdown, says former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Congressional Republicans are in discord over whether to risk a government shutdown by demanding that any spending bill include a defunding of the Affordable Care Act, the Washington Post reports.

"My advice is hold firm, stick to your guns, stand strong, and you’ll ultimately win," DeLay said Friday on CNN’s "New Day."

Last week, a Texas appeals court overturned his 2010 conviction on money-laundering charges.

"A shutdown is not what you want," DeLay said. "But if there was a shutdown, this notion that it hurts the Republicans is totally wrong, because in 1995, we won. . . . We showed Bill Clinton that we’d take him off a cliff and got welfare reform, balanced budget, and we won seats in the next election."

The public won't mind a shutdown, DeLay said. "Every shutdown — and there have been many — the American people never miss the government."

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