Is another shutdown looming?
by digby
A reporter asked the president today if he would “hold up funding for the government” because he is “so upset.”
His reply:
“No, no… I call them the do-nothing Democrats. They’re doing nothing. They’re not getting USMCA done, everybody wants it. Even the Democrats want it. They’re not getting anything done. Even guns they don’t talk about guns. All they can do is talk about one phone call that was made to the president of Ukraine that was perfect. It was perfect. It was a perfect phone call. And they’re hanging their hats on this one phone call. And you know what? The Republican party has never been so unified…
Same reporter: Will you commit to no government shutdown?
It depends on the negotiation. I wouldn’t commit to anything. It depends on what the negotiation is.
Pelosi said she doesn’t think he’ll shut down the government because it didn’t go well for them last time. This assumes that Trump is capable of learning from past mistakes for which there is zero evidence.
The government is operating on a temporary funding measure that expires Nov. 21. As lawmakers haggle over a spending plan, congressional Democrats and the White House are at odds over the same issue — Trump’s demand for border wall spending — that was at the root of a 35-day government earlier this year. That ended with the Trump administration agreeing to a funding bill without the extra money he sought.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer this week said he was concerned that Trump would create a standoff over funding because of the House impeachment inquiry. “He always likes to create diversions,” Schumer said.
Pelosi said that she and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are trying to come to an agreement on the full-year spending bills, including how to resolve the border wall spending.
I would not be surprised if he did it for the reason Schumer suggests. If the impeachment hearings are having an effect he may very well believe that he should shore up his base with a big ‘fuck you” and shut down the government. Mitch McConnell might not be able to stop him.
When you consider Trump’s moves you have to think in terms of what he believes he needs to do to keep his cult happy. And what he thinks makes them happy is to see him fighting. That’s why he says things like this:
"Nobody's gonna mess with me" — this man is the President of the United States pic.twitter.com/m2RS9apIJP— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 3, 2019
He believes that total defiance is his winning strategy.
I don’t know if he’ll go for a shutdown again but I certainly would not be in the least bit surprised.
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