There is the possibility of a government shutdown when Congress debates the appropriations bills in the fall due to the GOP's success in achieving results in the debt ceiling talks, Rep. Garret Graves told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
The Louisiana Republican, who was a crucial negotiator in the debt ceiling talks, said, "I'm not ruling out anything. It depends on how reasonable each side is obviously in the negotiations [over the appropriations bills]."
He added, "It's very difficult to predict, but I want to be clear: Republicans are going to demand continuing to build upon the success that we were able to achieve in debt ceiling negotiations, in changing the way that Washington spends."
Graves also lashed out at members of the faction in his own party that objected to the debt ceiling bill, saying, "Their goals are trying to change the trajectory of spending, transform Washington in a way that's more responsive long term, thinking about the next generation and the fiscal crisis that we're approaching. I don't think that should be a partisan issue. We should all be on board with those objectives. In this case, I think that leverage was trying to be exercised that really threatened the economy in a large way."
When asked if the momentum of bipartisan cooperation that helped pass the debt ceiling bill can continue with other important legislation, Graves said, "The negotiations certainly were in good faith, but they also included a lot of candor. We had some tense moments throughout. But I would love to tell you that we could build upon this."
He said, "We certainly have a crisis in the energy space. We continue to have a financial crisis. And, as you indicated, immigration is a huge issue where we should be able to work together."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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