LETTER: Grothman’s falsehoods can’t hide his role in U.S. shutdown

To Ozaukee Press:

Rep. Glenn Grothman recently sent constituents a letter claiming Republicans had done everything to keep the government open while Democrats, out of spite, plotted to shut it down. His “Special Edition” explanation is riddled with distortions, omissions and flat-out falsehoods. Wisconsinites deserve honesty, not partisan propaganda.

Grothman brags that House Republicans passed a “clean” continuing resolution to extend funding. That is false advertising. His version of a continuing  resolution wasn’t bipartisan and lacked critical health care provisions Democrats consider non-negotiable. It was dead on arrival in the Senate. Calling it clean doesn’t make it so. It was a messaging bill, not a governing solution.

Grothman paints himself as a reliable vote to keep the government running. That’s simply not true. In 2020, he voted against a continuing resolution that kept agencies funded, citing objections over agricultural aid. He has happily used the same procedural excuses he now condemns. For him to now posture as a consistent defender against shutdowns is revisionist history. His record shows he votes for continuing resolutions when it benefits his side, and against them when it doesn’t.

The most revealing section of Grothman’s letter is his laundry list of what Democrats supposedly want: “free health care for illegal immigrants,” “billions for unnecessary climate projects,” “funding for liberal media outlets,” and “cuts to rural health care.” None of that is in the actual negotiations. None. These are recycled talking points designed to inflame conservative media audiences, not inform constituents.

Climate resilience funding? That includes flood control and infrastructure

vital to rural Wisconsin. Funding for liberal media outlets? A fabrication. And the claim about free health care for undocumented immigrants is a gross distortion meant to scare, not to debate in good faith.

Grothman can’t shift blame when his own party holds all the levers of power. If Republicans can’t agree on how to keep the lights on, that failure belongs to them.

Grothman waves away the stakes by claiming this fight “isn’t about programs for families, seniors or children.” Wrong. The shutdown disrupts veterans’ benefits, freeze paychecks for federal employees and delays nutrition programs. It absolutely is about families and seniors. For Grothman to dismiss those consequences as “just politics” is an insult to every Wisconsinite who depends on those services.

If Grothman truly cared about keeping the government open, he’d admit Republicans chose brinkmanship over compromise. They waited until the eleventh hour, offered a partisan bill they knew wouldn’t pass, and are now blaming Democrats for refusing to rubber-stamp it. That’s not governing, that’s hostage-taking.

Wisconsin deserves representatives who tell the truth, even when it’s inconvenient. On that score, Grothman has failed.

Peter Vander Velden

Port Washington