President Trump on Friday dismissed the idea of a bipartisan deal to fund the government and avert a shutdown on October 1, suggesting in a lengthy and wide-ranging morning interview seated on the “Fox & Friends” set that Republicans could somehow keep agencies running without any negotiations with Democrats, whose votes would be needed to pass a bill in the Senate.
“We have to get Republican votes. That’s all. If we do, we have the majority,” Trump said in a lengthy and wide-ranging morning interview seated on the “Fox & Friends” set. Republicans have the majority in both the House and Senate, but they need help from Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Asked about the need to get 60 votes, Trump lashed out at Democrats.
“Here’s the problem. The Democrats have — they’re sick. There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said. “They want to give away money to this and that and destroy the country. If you gave them every dream, they would not vote for it. … Don’t even bother dealing with them. We will get it through because the Republicans are sticking together for the first time in a long time.”
Fact check: Sticking together still won’t get Republicans to the magic number.
Republican congressional leaders are planning to vote on a “clean” short-term funding bill that would largely keep spending at current levels until late November. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has also thrown cold water on the near-term possibility of a healthcare deal. He told Punchbowl News on Thursday that, while he’s open to discussions about extending the higher Affordable Care Act tax credits, he won’t agree to do so as part of a short-term spending bill.
Thune also said he thinks Democrats will force a government shutdown. “I think they see it as politically advantageous to have a shutdown,” Thune said. “I think their base is clamoring for that. They want a fight with the Trump administration. But they don’t have a good reason to do it. And I don’t intend to give them a good reason to do it.”
Democrats reject a ‘clean’ stopgap: Congressional Democratic leaders said Thursday that they’ll demand healthcare concessions as part of any bipartisan funding deal. Those concessions could include extending enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance policies or restoring Medicaid cuts enacted as part of the recent GOP megabill — either of which could ultimately redound to Republicans’ political benefit.
Democrats face grassroots pressure to deliver a win on healthcare in the funding fight. Politico reports that progressive activist group MoveOn this week called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and top Democratic appropriators to “hold the line and refuse support for any funding bill that doesn't reverse Republicans' massive health care cuts.”
In an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Schumer indicated he’s willing to risk a shutdown, unlike in March, when he helped Republicans pass an extension of federal funding. “It’s a different situation now than then,” he said. He suggested that a shutdown wouldn’t necessarily worsen the political environment under Trump. “It will get worse with or without it, because Trump is lawless,” Schumer said.
He also said Democrats want Republicans to agree that they won’t look to claw back any bipartisan funding approved by Congress. “How do you pass an appropriations bill and let them undo it down the road?” Schumer said.