U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a roundtable on antifa, an anti-fascist movement he designated a domestic "terrorist organization" via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
A Democratic lawmaker criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's recent purchase of two luxury jets while a government shutdown rages on, saying, "She can fly Southwest with me."
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) criticized Republicans for their behavior during the stalemate in an interview with CNN's Boris Sanchez on Tuesday.
"While people are worrying, not getting a paycheck, grocery prices going up, healthcare going through the roof, they're celebrating the big, beautiful ballroom," she said. "So they're over there and some gold-plated lunch. Gold-plated lunch while people are suffering. Prices are going up, and they're not doing a thing. Oh, and maybe they signed the check for Kristi Noem's two — count them — two airplanes that she doesn't need. She can come fly Southwest with me. I'll even take the middle seat. The pretzels are fantastic. They're made in Nevada."
Sanchez joked that he'd need to fact-check where the pretzels were made. "I haven't tried them myself," he laughed.
Rosen explained what really needs to happen next.
"[Donald] Trump can stop this at any moment by bringing us to the table and having a discussion," Rosen said.
Rosen pointed to House Speaker Mike Johnson, adding, "God knows when they'll come back to work. They've barely been here since August. He's fully capitulated to Donald Trump. And Thune is again kind of saying, 'Well, we're going to leave it to the president.' Thune needs to bring us together. We can open the government now by opening up conversations about getting people's health care coverage that they can afford. All people deserve to get paid, not just the ones that Trump likes versus the ones he doesn't like."
Sanchez asked Rosen about health care subsidies, as Trump has talked about repealing and replacing Obamacare.
"Well, what I want to say is this, when I'm about to quote Marjorie Taylor Greene and say that she's absolutely correct, when she saw her kids' insurance premiums going up by double and she said, 'This isn't sustainable and reasonable,'" Rosen said.
"Responsible people everywhere have to get together to fix this," she added. "You know that the tide has shifted over the course of so many years. More and more people get insurance coverage, whether they use the tax credits or not. We've changed so many things. You can't be kicked off for preexisting conditions and the like. You can't just rip health care away from people. It is the number one thing people call into my office about. And so people are worried they're going to, you know, I live in Las Vegas, right outside Las Vegas. And we like to say we love when people come and roll the dice. But nobody should be rolling the dice to not get their health care."