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‘Politically Beyond Stupid’: McConnell Breaks With Trump Over Govt Shutdown

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


The federal government is on the verge of shutting down and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is taking issue with former President Donald Trump.

McConnell doesn’t agree with Trump’s call to shut down the federal government later this month unless the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is included in a stopgap spending bill.

While speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill, McConnell said that he would do “whatever it takes” to avoid a government shutdown, arguing that “it would be politically beyond stupid” for the Republicans to do so ahead of November’s election.

An off-camera reporter asked McConnell, “Susan Collins said yesterday that a six-month CR could have a devastating impact on defense spending. Do you think your House colleagues should drop this idea of six months?”

“I think we first have to wait and see what the House sends us. My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame,” McConnell replied.

“And one of my favorite old sayings is there’s no education in a second kick of a mule. We’ve been here before. I’m for whatever avoids the government shutdown and that’ll ultimately end up obviously being a discussion between the Democratic leader and the speaker of the House as to how to process avoiding government shutdown,” he added.

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McConnell’s comments came after former President Donald Trump posted a message to his fellow Republicans last week, urging members of his party in Congress to shut down the federal government unless they get “assurances.”

“If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO “STUFF” VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN – CLOSE IT DOWN!!!” Trump posted on his Truth Social account.

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Last week, McConnell made it clear he does not agree with Trump’s call to shut down the federal government unless the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is included in a stopgap spending bill.

“A government shutdown is always a bad idea — at any time,” McConnell told reporters at the Capitol when asked about his comments.

“I think we first have to see what the House sends us. And, of course, how to handle that comes down to [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer]. The first step ought to be what comes out of the House, and I think we don’t know right now,” McConnell added.

“The leader was also noncommittal on Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) initial plan to put a continuing resolution on the floor this week that extends government funding into March and includes the SAVE Act. The attached bill would require proof of citizenship for individuals to register to vote in federal elections,” The Hill reported.

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Despite growing criticism in his conference, Johnson persisted with the idea. If every member of the chamber is present and votes against it, he may only lose four Republican votes.

When it comes to the plan, Trump offered his opinion on Tuesday afternoon, stating that the Republicans ought to shut down the government if the SAVE Act or other legislation about “election security” isn’t eventually agreed upon.

“If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO “STUFF” VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN – CLOSE IT DOWN!!!” Trump wrote on social media.

While some Senate Republicans support Johnson’s original proposal to attach the SAVE Act, others are less certain about how long the stopgap should be.

The top Senate Republican appropriator, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), told reporters on Monday that she would rather a continuing resolution expire in December so that the incoming president—regardless of party—is not burdened with a government spending bill during their first 100 days in office.

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