Republicans accused of pushing 'flat out lie' on CNN amid shutdown talks

A Democratic senator on Monday called out President Donald Trump and Republicans over what he called a "flat-out lie" as a government shutdown looms.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) told CNN's Jake Tapper that time was running out and that Republicans are lying to Americans by claiming that Democrats are the ones delaying the push to avert a government shutdown.

"So, yes, the American people are demanding that we take this step seriously," he said. "The challenge is, Jake, you just had Speaker [Mike] Johnson on your show yesterday. He talked about how they're trying to negotiate in good faith. That is absolutely deceptive to the American way. It's a flat-out lie to them right now."

Kim explained how the Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire this year.

"In about 30 hours, millions of Americans are going to realize that their healthcare bills are skyrocketing," Kim said. "I mean, New Jersey, we're talking about upwards of 75,000 Americans could very well lose their healthcare. I mean, this is a crisis, and this is why we have to take it on now, not wait until Thanksgiving to try to take it on."

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 4 million people will lose healthcare over the next 10 years if Congress does not act to address key provisions in the budget. He also noted that trust was a top issue during these negotiations.

"I mean, we see the Trump administration moving forward with a $5 billion rescission package, trying to cut funding that Congress has already approved," Kim said. "Speaker Johnson is doing nothing with it. How can we trust him? How can we trust President Trump on a deal? So yes, we need to have assurances that what we agree to is actually going to follow through. But how do you make a deal with someone when they're not even telling you if they're going to live up to their end of it?"