GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took questions on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and told the press 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 the election.
McConnell was asked by an off-camera reporter, “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 bluntly, adding:
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.
McConnell’s remarks are a sharp break with former President Donald Trump who 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” his roundly debunked claims of voter fraud will not happen.
“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.
Trump has long claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen despite countless court cases and audits showing that there was no significant voter fraud that caused him to lose by some seven million votes. Trump and his GOP allies have already begun to claim that the 2024 election will be stolen, further undermining faith in the country’s electoral system – a key tenet of U.S. democracy.
Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.
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