Shutdown would fix Senate mess says Trump in tweet
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday that the U.S. government “needs a good shutdown” in September to fix a “mess” in the Senate, signalling his displeasure with a temporary spending bill that Republican congressional leaders — and Trump himself — are praising as a major accomplishment.
On Twitter and then in a White House ceremony, Trump issued contradictory statements ahead of key votes in Congress on the budget bill to keep the government running into the fall. After advocating for a future shutdown on Twitter, he hailed the budget agreement as a boost for the military and border security.
“This is what winning looks like,” Trump said during a ceremony honouring the Air Force Academy football team. He said, “Our Republican team had its own victory — under the radar,” he and called the bill “a clear win for the American people.”
Trump’s embrace of a potential government shutdown came days after he accused Senate Democrats of seeking such an outcome and obstructing majority Republicans during recent budget negotiations. Lawmakers announced Sunday they had reached an agreement to avoid a shutdown until Oct. 1 — a deal that does not include several provisions sought by Trump, including money for a border wall.
It also came at the start of a week in which the House is considering a possible vote on a health care overhaul that would repeal and replace Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Congress is expected to vote this week on the $1.1 trillion spending bill.
After Trump’s tweets, House
Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin defended the budget plan, telling reporters, “No longer will our military be held hostage for domestic spending.” He said the spending package was an “important first step in the right direction” that included a “big down payment” on border security and the military.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the funding bill is the product of bipartisan negotiations, and that it “delivers some important conservative wins, including critical steps forward on defence and border security.”
The White House on Monday had praised the deal as a win for the nation’s military, health benefits for coal miners and other Trump priorities, a message that Trump reiterated in
the Rose Garden on Tuesday.
But the president appeared to indicate unhappiness with the budget plan when he kicked off the day by taking to Twitter. “The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there!” He added, “We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51 (per cent). Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”
That contradicted Trump’s message less than a week ago.
Last Thursday, Trump had tweeted that Democrats were threatening to close national parks as part of the negotiations “and shut down the government. Terrible!” He also tweeted at the time that he
had promised to “rebuild our military and secure our border. Democrats want to shut down the government. Politics!”
His Tuesday tweets about Senate procedures came after Senate Republicans recently triggered the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster threshold for confirming Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. That change allowed the Senate to hold a final vote to approve Gorsuch with a simple majority, an approach that has not been used for legislation.
McConnell has said he’s not inclined to change Senate rules on the filibuster and legislation. “There’s not a single senator in the majority who thinks we ought to change the legislative filibuster. Not one,” he said in April.