WASHINGTON — Senator Andy Kim indicated he is open to shutting down the federal government to oppose policies enacted by the Trump administration and Elon Musk, who is overseeing government cost-cutting efforts.
Kim, a former US AID employee himself, operated a far-left anti-Trump disruption organization called “Rise Stronger” prior to be elected to Congress. The mission of Rise Stronger was to disrupt and oppose the first Trump presidency.
Kim quickly removed the website when his then-opponent, Congressman Tom MacArthur, began publicizing Kim’s ownership of the far-left radical group that promoted communist teachings and marxist philosophies.
“Andy Kim has a disturbing disregard for the truth and it reared its head again during a Facebook Live event with the Asbury Park Press. The resistance group he started was not simply a ‘Facebook group’. How many Facebook groups do you know have a Board of Directors, incorporate in Delaware and file with the IRS?” said MacArthur. “Andy Kim is not the bipartisan moderate he claims to be. He is running to protest Trump, not serve South Jersey. He started a resistance group, planned a conference, promoted books by a cop killer and a domestic terrorist, organized national resistance marches, and produced literature and other promotional materials calling for revolution. This is no moderate. He is partisan warrior, plain and simple.”
During an interview, Kim was asked whether he would join fellow Democrats, including Senator Jeff Merkley, in blocking government funding as a form of protest.
“You have to look at what the Trump administration is doing right now. They are simply trying to dismantle the government,” Kim said. “If we have to take steps to be able to hold them accountable, we use the leverage that we have.”
Pressed further on whether he would vote to shut down the government, Kim deflected, instead pointing to Republican leadership. “This is on them. This is about whether or not they can get the votes. They are the majority,” he said.
Kim, a former national security official, said he has worked through past government shutdowns and does not take the possibility lightly. However, he argued that Trump administration actions amount to a “constitutional crisis” and must be confronted.