McConnell: Government shutdown before election ‘politically beyond stupid’

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is warning colleagues that it would be “politically beyond stupid” for Congress to stumble into a government shutdown a few weeks before Election Day, saying Republicans would “certainly” get the blame.

McConnell made his comments a few hours after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled his plan to vote this week on a bill that pairs a six-month continuing resolution with legislation backed by former President Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote. Johnson was forced to yank the same bill from the floor last week in the face of widespread opposition within his own party.

Democrats warn they view the voter registration language as a “poison pill” that will sink the funding package.

McConnell stopped short of calling on House Republicans to abandon their plans of advancing a bill that has no chance of passing the Senate, but made it clear that he wants to see some kind of bipartisan compromise over the next 13 days to avoid a shutdown.

“One thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

“One of my favorite old sayings is there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. We’ve been here before. 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,” he said.

In response to warnings from Republican lawmakers that the six-month continuing resolution pending in the House would hurt defense programs, McConnell said, “I think we have to first see what the House sends us.”

Johnson canceled a vote that was scheduled for last week on the six-month funding stopgap combined with the Trump-backed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act because of divisions within his own conference. Only one House Democrat, centrist Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), has pledged support for the measure.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) expressed her frustration that Johnson is sticking with has plan to pass a six-month continuing resolution combined with controversial voter registration reform.

“I don’t understand why he continues to beat a dead horse. We have a responsibility to keep our government open. No poison pills — do it in a bipartisan way,” Murray said Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated Tuesday that he expects Johnson’s proposal to fail on the House floor and expressed hope that the Speaker would then sit down with Democrats.

“We hope after this vote, he will sit down and negotiate a bipartisan, bicameral bill,” Schumer said after the weekly Senate Democratic lunch.