Now Scott’s friend and fellow Republican, Donald Trump, is president, and Republicans have Senate control. And he’s no longer going out of his way to fault the president. | Getty In Trump era, Scott won't fault president for looming government shutdown

MIAMI — With the minority party threatening a federal government shutdown, Gov. Rick Scott was clear when asked about the controversy: “The buck stops with the president.”

But that was back in 2013, when President Barack Obama was in the White House and Democrats controlled the Senate.


Now Scott’s friend and fellow Republican, Donald Trump, is president, and Republicans have Senate control. And he’s no longer going out of his way to fault the president.

“We shouldn’t be seeing government shutdowns. It’s not fair to all the citizens of our state. We all pay our taxes,” Scott said when asked Friday in Miami about the failure to reach a budget deal. “We expect the individuals that go to D.C. to represent us to do their job and balance the budget and pass a budget and keep our government going.”

Asked to what degree Republicans and Democrats and the president are to blame, Scott said, “I think everybody’s responsible. Everybody’s responsible for figuring out how to get a budget done. It just shows the incompetence of Washington. I’ve been in Tallahassee now as governor for seven years. You’ve got to figure out how to work with people. … Every senator, every representative, everybody’s got to figure out how to get this done.”

During the last shutdown controversy under Obama, Scott repeatedly made sure to single out the commander in chief.



“The buck stops with the president,” Scott told reporters Oct. 9, 2013. “It's disappointing he doesn't know how to compromise and negotiate to get a budget done. I've had to do it for three sessions. I've had to. I don't get 100 percent of what I want. I have to sit down with the House and the Senate and come up with an agreement that works for everybody."

Nine days before that, Scott said that “the president needs to step up and lead.” And later in the month he again called on the president “to sit down with Congress. … They need to compromise. They need to negotiate. They have to do the same thing we have to do in our state.”

Scott isn’t unique in shifting his position and talking points depending on who’s in power.

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat Scott may challenge later this year, has fallen silent about the shutdown. When Nelson’s party was in the majority in the Senate in 2013, he was more vocal about the need to reach a deal.

“Every member of Congress has a responsibility to put aside partisan political differences in favor of finding common-sense solutions,” Nelson said at the time.

On Friday, Nelson’s office had no comment.

Washington, meanwhile, is barreling toward a government shutdown at midnight Friday with no apparent sign of a last-minute breakthrough, and each party is blaming the other for causing the crisis.