Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is letting President Donald Trump take the lead on a partial government shutdown should a spending bill be presented that fails to fund his call for a border wall.
“It’s the president battle so I think he’s going to set the terms,” said Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas, who serves as McConnell's top leadership deputy, reports The Hill.
Senate Republicans think a shutdown would be a mistake as the 2020 election cycle nears and they will need to defend 22 seats at a time when Democrat turnout likely will be higher. In addition, McConnell, R-Ky., is seeking re-election, and has been advising Trump on different options.
“I think what McConnell will do is what he always does and that’s give the president his best advice on what is and is not possible, what is a realistic view of where things stand,” Scott Jennings, a McConnell advisor told THe Hill.
McConnell also has told Senate colleagues he is not interested in shutting down government agencies, and told reporters recently that a shutdown would not be "a great way to end what in my view has been the most successful Congress, right of center, in decades.”
“It makes absolutely no sense to negotiate against yourself,” said Josh Holmes, McConnell’s former chief of staff. “This is not a complicated issue. The battle lines are really clear, it’s one issue they’re discussing. It just makes no sense for other people to jump into the middle of this and complicate it further."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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