The House Republican Who Says His Party Is Mishandling the Shutdown

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Representative Kevin Kiley is one of five California Republicans who are all but certain to lose their seats in the next midterm elections if voters grant final approval to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newly drawn congressional districts. Mr. Kiley showed up to work in protest against Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to send the House home indefinitely as the government shutdown drags on. A new poll from The Washington Post found that more Americans blame the shutdown on Trump and congressional Republicans than on Democrats. “The Daily” sat down with Mr. Kiley for a conversation about his one-man campaign to try to fix what he believes his party is getting wrong in this moment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sir, can I just put a question?
0:03.0	Yeah.
0:04.0	I'm looking for what we like to call it a little subway.
0:06.0	Yes.
0:07.0	I'm trying to get to the Capitol.
0:09.0	I'm trying to get to the house side.
0:10.0	You found this was a little tricky area over here.
0:13.0	Hulsin.
0:18.0	So we are starting our day here in Washington, D.C., in the Dersen Senate office building,
0:23.6	which is not where we want to be.
0:25.6	We want to be over on the House side because we're going to interview a Republican congressman
0:30.6	there, Representative Kevin Kylie of California, who's become very interesting in this moment,
0:36.6	which is the government being shut
0:38.4	down, because he's very critical of how his party has been handling the shutdown.
0:44.0	And at the moment, the Senate side of the capital complex is pretty busy because they're actually
0:50.4	in session.
0:51.3	The House side is not in session, and we're really curious what it's going to feel like over there
1:00.2	okay the little capital subway train has arrived
1:11.6	should we go in this one? You got me some.
1:17.6	Just so you know we are recording.
1:21.6	You're unwitting participants in the podcast.
1:26.6	Is this a normal level of busyness on this train or is this like a shutdown
	...

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