IT’S A WAR OF ( DIRTY) WORDS
Shutdown? Good! – prez
President Trump went on another Twitter rant Tuesday, calling for a “good shutdown” of the government in September to “fix” the mess in Washington — drawing flak even from top GOP lawmakers.
Congress is poised to pass a massive bill this week that would fund some programs favored by Democrats but would not provide money for Trump’s promised Mexican border wall and which doesn’t include the deep spending cuts he wants.
After Democrats gloated over what they saw as a victory, the president angrily slammed the Senate’s filibuster rule, under which most major legislation needs at least 60 votes to pass, and called for the shutdown.
“The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there!” Trump tweeted. “We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51 [votes, a simple majority]. Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!” Top Senate Republicans were not on board. “I don’t think the American people elected President Trump and Republican majorities in both houses to shut down the government,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (RTexas), Politico reported. “I think they expected us to govern.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) thought along similar lines.
“He clearly hasn’t served in the legislative body,” Hatch said. “Had we not had the filibuster this country would have been gone a long time [ago], would have gone straight to socialism.”
And Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker sighed, ‘‘I do wish somebody would take his iPhone away from him.”
Lawmakers managed to avoid a shutdown by first passing a one-week funding bill and then agreeing on a deal to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September.
Later Tuesday, the administration sent two top aides to the White House daily press briefing to counter Democrats’ crowing that the budget deal was a defeat for Trump. “I think the president is frustrated with the fact that he negotiated in good faith with the Democrats and they went out to try and spike the football and make him look bad,” said Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, trying to explain Trump’s call for a shutdown. Homeland Security chief John Kelly said he was “shocked” that some politicians celebrated the lack of border-wall funding. Trump, while honoring the Air Force Academy’s winning football team at the White House, wound up praising the budget deal and even taking credit for it. “After years of partisan bickering and gridlock, this bill is a clear win for the American people,” he said.