Current funding for our government will expire at the end of this month.
Donald Trump wanted Speaker Johnson (R-LA) to leverage election security in the funding, and he is now recommending that if that is not included, he would like to see the party block the CR.
Talking Points...
- Blocking the CR
- Looming shutdown
- Analysis
This week has more or less been the perfect storm of disasters for the GOP. Trump and Harris had their debate last night, and it was not exactly a great night for Trump. He did the one thing we had hoped he would not do, and he took the bait from Harris and ended up getting into a schoolyard brawl with her rather than focusing on policy. Harris evaded just about every question and just kept unloading on Trump until she turned him into a ranting maniac, and it was not a good look.
This was a fairly significant blow against Trump, and you can tell by the fact all of his surrogates are now blaming the debate on the moderators, telling us they think he lost the debate. This was Trump's chance to end this race, and he failed, so now the GOP cannot make a single misstep, but I believe a recommendation by Trump to kill the CR is exactly that.
Johnson wants to include the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in the CR to keep the government operational, but Democrats are never going to go for it in the Senate, and I highly doubt Biden would sign it. And if that is not in the CR, Trump does not want Johnson to push any legislation through, posting on Truth Social:
"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!!!"
In the overall scheme of things, a short-term government shutdown is not that big of a deal. Unfortunately, this will be portrayed far worse by Democrats and the media than it is to hurt Donald Trump and Republicans in the upcoming election cycle. After last night's debate, the GOP cannot afford any missteps, so another negative news cycle that is close to election day and while early voting is going on is not going to be good for the GOP.
To that point, Senator Schumer (D-N.Y.) is already pointing fingers at the GOP, stating:
"If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans' hands."
Trump is not the only one challenging the CR; however, there are multiple Republicans in the House who are tired of seeing CRs pass and want a real budget. Rep. Rosendale (R-MT) is among those ready to reject any CR, stating:
"I haven't supported a CR since I arrived here, and I don't intend to start now.
"I think it's a crutch that's been abused by Congress for many, many years. And they … haven't completed their work to deliver the 12 appropriations bills, as per the Budget Act of 1974."
With the House up in the air, the GOP has to prove to undecided voters that it can legislate, and shutting down the government will not help their case. As I have stated before, I do not like CRs, but the idea here is to get the funding done so the media and Dems cannot use a shutdown against the GOP and kick the can down the road in the hopes of retaking the House, Senate, and White House. In all honesty, if we lose this upcoming election, none of this matters anyway, so they might as well roll the dice to avert the negative news cycle.
