“...We've offered the Senate compromise three times on the [House] Floor, and [Democrats] were not recognized for that motion... We've already compromised. These are the Republican -- they're in the Majority -- their bills and we're willing to vote to fund them at the Senate-passed bill levels… [House Speaker] Paul Ryan refused to put it on the Floor... [Republicans] have got a history of using the shutdown of government as a strategy to get what they want. We are fully prepared to support the bill that came over from the Senate.”

"Shutting down government is stupid. It is costly.  It undermines morale and undermines the confidence of the economy. It undermines the confidence of the international community in America as a stable leader.”

"We're going to offer a bill on the third of January that we hope the Senate can pass, and we ought to send it to the President. We're a co-equal branch of government. We don't do the President's bidding, nor does he do our bidding, but we are the policymakers and the lawmakers, and we should send a bill to the President."

On CNN's The Situation Room:

“It is not a very happy holiday, unfortunately, for so many of our federal employees and for so many people who do business with the government. I just had a meeting with representatives of federal employees and representatives of small business people doing business with the government, and they're traumatized and very worried about their situation.

“[Congressional leaders and President Trump] had an understanding. The Senate passed a [Continuing Resolution through February 8]. They passed that bill on the understanding that the President of the United States would sign the bill. Every Democrat would have voted for that bill except for the fact that Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, would not put it on the Floor, so we got no opportunity to vote on that bill. It will not surprise anyone that Paul Ryan was one of those with Mick Mulvaney that voted against opening up the government [in 2013]. It is a strategy that [Republicans] have employed over the years...”

“As you know, I will be the Majority Leader of the House as of January 3, and I intend to put a bill on the Floor on January 3 that, if the Senate approves it and the President signs it, will open government...”

On CBS Evening News:

"...This is a strategy of [Republicans shutting down the government] that is a stupid strategy, a harmful strategy, a strategy that undermines the confidence of the markets, undermines the confidence of moral of federal employees, and undermines the confidence, frankly, of the international community."