WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kansas 3rd District Congresswoman Sharice Davids says she’s doing everything she can to end the ‘Schumer Shutdown,’ of the federal government, but neither her office nor extensive Internet searches this week had produced evidence of letters or other documents she directed to Democrats in the U.S. Senate responsible for the current government funding blockade.
“Families shouldn’t pay the price for dysfunction – I’m working to get the government open and Kansans paid,” Davids said in an October 3 post on “X” (formerly Twitter).
DEMOCRATS BLOCK 9TH VOTE TO END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
In reality, Davids voted “nay” on the House Continuing Resolution HR 5371 on Sept. 19 which would have funded the continuation of the government in absence of an actual approved annual budget. The bill passed 217-212 and was sent to the Senate to keep the government bills paid for another 60 days. But it died there after Democrats in the Senate rallied under the leadership of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) in his attempt to add nearly $1.5 trillion to restore a host of spending measures and Medicaid provisions trimmed from the House version – including government-paid Medicaid benefits for illegal aliens.
A ChatGPT search of Davids’ efforts on behalf of ending the shutdown only yielded press releases and press statements aimed at leadership in the House – where the funding bill already passed – and attacking President Trump’s firing of some federal workers as funds to operate the government ran short. The AI search engine located nothing from Davids addressing the actual stopping point that occurred with Democrats in the Senate, however.
While Davids has kept a full volume call for a “bipartisan” solution to the stalemate in her public relations efforts, her media specialist Zac Donely did not respond to an email request for actual evidence the congresswoman had attempted to sway Democratic votes in the Senate. There appear to be no copies of letters from other sources that Davids has encouraged Senators from her party to change their votes and reopen the government.
It’s not the first time David’s public statements seem inconsistent with her actual execution on policy. In November 2023, Davids’ office helped Garnett and several other Kansas towns compile grant paperwork for water plant infrastructure, then voted against the bill that would have actually provided the money after she took issue with Republican cuts to the EPA that were added to the bill.
House Resolution 4821 contained nearly $4.8 million in funding for separate water treatment projects in Garnett, Olathe, DeSoto, Edgerton and Johnson County – all projects within the Kansas 3rd District. The projects were among various clean water projects across the country – part of a massive appropriations bill funding expenses budgeted in the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and other associated departments.
The bill still passed and was sent to the Senate – without Davids’ support.
A former women’s MMA fighter, Davids supported men competing in womens’ sports during “trans” debates over Title IX in the Biden Administration, but would never respond to public questions if she would have been willing to fight a man when she was competing.
The congresswoman has also been reticent to engage in unscripted contact with opponents or unrestricted audiences. During last fall’s congressional campaign against Republican Prasanth Reddy, Davids won concessions from the Franklin County Republican Party regarding its conduct of a debate to which she was invited, including that she would not share the stage with her opponent. Davids later no-showed the event altogether. Davids also skipped a Johnson County NAACP debate under similar circumstances.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
