No One Is Afraid of a Government Shutdown
December 8, 2017 · 12:47 PM EST
Call me crazy, but I'm not sure we won't see a government shutdodwn, even though Congress managed to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the government through Dec. 22. Why? Because no one in Washington is particularly afraid of a government shutdown.
Democrats aren’t afraid of a government shutdown because Republicans are in control of the legislative and executive branches, and they believe the GOP will get blamed for the impasse.
President Donald Trump is not only unafraid of a shutdown but he appears to believe it could help galvanize core supporters who might have previously been upset with his outreach to Democrats, according to The Washington Post.
Even Republicans aren’t afraid of a shutdown because they have selective memories about the last one. For many GOP lawmakers on the Hill, the 2013 shutdown wasn’t problematic because the party subsequently expanded its House majority by 13 seats and took over the Senate majority by gaining 9 seats in the 2014 midterms.
What those Republicans fail to remember was that shortly after that shutdown came the HealthCare.gov rollout, which was unequivocally a debacle and shifted attention from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans on the Hill back to President Barack Obama, the Democratic White House, and a polarizing piece of legislation.
Of course, we won’t know the ultimate political fallout until a shutdown happens, but Republicans are playing with political fire once again if they choose to let a shutdown take place and try to blame Democrats.