As Shutdown Fight Enters Day Two, Trump Tells Republicans To “Go Nuclear”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sun, 01/21/2018
The first full day of the January 2018 government shutdown saw a spate of hurried but ultimately fruitless negotiations, and already the White House – which has been accused of exacerbating the problem by constantly shifting its negotiating position – has had enough: In a tweet this morning, President Donald Trump said Republicans should consider invoking “the nuclear option” to eliminate the possibility of an opposition fillibuster – allowing Republicans to pass a long-term spending bill with a simple majority (there are 51 Republican senators).
Right now, the Senate can approve presidential nominees for the courts and executive branch departments with a simple majority, but traditional legislation is still subject to a fillibuster that requires 60 votes to overcome.
Kicking off an early morning flurry of tweetstorm, Trump congratulated Republicans in Congress: “Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked. If stalemate continues, Republicans should go to 51% (Nuclear Option) and vote on real, long term budget, no C.R.’s!”
Lawmakers in both parties are fighting to win the PR “blamegame” battle, hoping to brand their political opponents as the ones who are ultimately held accountable by the public for the shutdown. Democrats argue that, because Republicans control Congress and the White House, the public will inevitably blame them. Republicans have insisted that Democrats are being “obstructionist” and have sought to label it “the #Schumershutdown” after the Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
Per the Hill, Democrats have complained loudly about the difficulty of negotiating with the president, telling media that Schumer and Trump were close to a deal during a Friday afternoon meeting until conservative Republicans interceded and shut it down. Subsequently, Schumer said that “Negotiating with this White House is like negotiating with Jello.”
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