U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said Thursday that he wasn’t elected to shut down the government but to make the government work for taxpayers.
The Tennessee Republican made the comments after President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the federal government if lawmakers do not get behind his request to fund a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
“The last time the government was shut down, it hurt small businesses all over East Tennessee at peak tourist season for people coming to the Great Smoky Mountains,” Alexander said after a Tennessee Restaurant Association meeting in Nashville.
“I wasn’t elected to shut down the government," he said. "I was elected to make it run for the benefit of tax payers. I’m sure that’s what we will do.”
Alexander also said he hoped Trump could work with members of Congress to resolve differences of opinion in a productive way.
The president recently tweeted against Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, calling him "weak on crime & border." Flake has said he will continue to challenge Trump as his conscience dictates.
Trump has also called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for failing to change Senate rules regarding filibusters and the two have reportedly had a tense relationship in recent months. And Politico reported this week that Trump had a tense call with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, over Russian sanctions.
When Alexander served as governor, he said he never had similar interactions with members of the Tennessee General Assembly. Doing so, he said, would have been unfruitful.
“I had weekly meetings with the Democratic leaders as well as the Republican leaders and we talked through our differences of opinion,” Alexander said. “I gave them credit for their improvements to my legislation even when it wasn’t really an improvement, we got a lot done. I think the way you get things done in government is the president and the Congress work together with the people in mind."
Reporter Jordan Buie can be reached at 615-726-5970 or by email at jbuie@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @jordanbuie.