John Curtis says Democrats don't have an endgame for government shutdown

SALT LAKE CITY — Congressional Republicans have experience shutting the government down over the last 15 years, according to Sen. John Curtis, who said the party’s goals in such situations have typically been to reduce government spending.

While he admits that shutdowns have “never gone well for Republicans,” he said Democrats lack a strategy for getting out of the current shutdown, which is now the longest on record. He said he and other Republicans blame Senate Democrats for not supplying enough votes to clear the 60-vote threshold to pass a temporary funding bill, and that Democrats aren’t giving the GOP space to negotiate in asking for an extension of COVID-era subsidies for health insurance.

“Democrats are saying, ‘Hey, unless you not only just negotiate this, unless you do this