Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, now a senior political commentator for CNN, said Wednesday that both President Donald Trump and House Democrats need to come to an agreement that will end the government shutdown.
"They need to give the president more money and call it whatever they want," Kasich told CNN's "New Day." "The president lets the Dreamers, DACA people, be able to stay in the United States. Do it all at once."
Shutdowns, he added, can become a "habit," and could result in using the same tactics every time there is a problem, which could be damaging to the economy.
Kasich noted when he was in the House, he was there during a number of shutdowns, and the one he was most directly involved in involved the budget.
"We ended up coming out of it and balancing the budget," Kasich said. "We weren't there to make political statements. We weren't there to say, what is our base, or anything like that. Our purpose was to get the job done. We were anxious to open the government, get a negotiation and a real agreement done."
But both sides will have to be interested in settling the shutdown, said Kasich, but Trump, as the leader, must be able to try to bring people together.
"I wonder a little bit if the Democrats are kind of enjoying this because the numbers are all going against the president," Kasich said. "They don't seem to be very engaged in this."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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