A moderate House Republican warned Wednesday that a government shutdown “shouldn’t” happen, but very well could because “accidents can happen.”
“There should not be a government shutdown but there could be one … accidents can happen around here,” Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said in an interview with The Hill, noting that leaders were conducting a whip count during votes on Wednesday.
Fellow GOP Rep. Steve Russell (Okla.) also warned that a government shutdown would be “devastating” for the military.
“I don’t think [we] will shut the government down, I think that would be devastating to our Department of Defense … do we want to hold our men and women in uniform hostage over political nonsense?” Russell told The Hill.
Dent, who decided not to run for reelection this year, said that GOP leaders should call up a short-term continuing resolution (CR) even if they don’t have 218 Republican votes to pass the bill.
“I don’t know that any of us has an answer to that today. My view is, bring up the CR and let’s see where the chips fall,” Dent said.
Watch the video above to hear the lawmakers in their own words.