McConnell ….It’d Be ‘Politically Beyond Stupid’ To Shut Down Government Before the November Election

Speaking to reporters inside the U.S. Capitol, McConnell warned that his party would be held responsible in the event that the government shuts down, suggesting Republicans could draw backlash from voters in November.

“My only observation about this whole discussion is the one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown,” he said. “It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame.”

“I’m for whatever avoids a government shutdown and that’ll ultimately end up obviously being a discussion between the [Senate] Democratic leader and the speaker of the House,” McConnell continued.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Johnson to drop his plan for a vote on the two measures this week, despite the Louisiana Republican’s claims that he is not prepared to discuss any alternatives to keep the government open past Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends….

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The House action….

“The aim here is to be pretty minimal, as close to a clean CR as we can do. Have anomalies that both sides can agree on,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said.

“Everybody wants to wait and see what happens in the election, and we’re pretty serious about trying to get something done by the end of the year.”

The timing of the bill’s release remains unclear. Negotiators still have a number of details to determine, including questions surrounding so-called anomalies — a reference to any changes to the current-year spending bills — and whether Congress will address emergency aid for natural disasters as part of the package.

But congressional aides say they expect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his allies on the House Appropriations Committee to post the text of CR on Sunday. And some House GOP appropriators said they want to move quickly out of concern that the price tag will grow significantly if the Senate moves first. …

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