The government has been shut down for a month now. Today, our country officially entered the longest government shutdown in history. How and when we will emerge from this mess remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that this shutdown is unnecessary.

Before this shutdown began, we were closer than we have been in years to returning to regular order — funding the government on time without temporary spending measures. The House Appropriations Committee had passed all 12 appropriations bills. For the first time since fiscal year 2019, we were preparing to conference with the Senate to resolve our differences on those bills. As one of 19 Republican conferees on that bipartisan conference committee, I was dedicated to continuing the process.

While we were close, we needed a bit more ti

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