It's Friday, September 2, and Day 201 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell decided no nominee would get any Senate attention: No meetings, no hearings, no votes. It's also Day 170 since Merrick Garland was nominated by President Obama to fill that vacancy. So what's the Senate up to? Getting ready to come back next week, which gives Harry Reid the chance to do some epic trolling.
Senate Democrats are forecasting a government shutdown next month if Republicans don’t acquiesce to their demands for a stopgap bill that runs only through this year.
“The Senate is being run into the ground and unless it changes course … we’re headed straight for another government shutdown,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a call with reporters Thursday.
Reid, joined by Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, said Democrats won't agree to a short-term funding bill that goes into next year, an idea several House GOP hard-liners floated before the August recess.
Reid says President Obama agrees—they won't accept a funding bill that tries to set limits on next year's spending. Would congressional Republicans really be stupid enough to allow a government shutdown over this, weeks before a presidential election in which they're facing a Democratic landslide? Harry Reid wants everyone to be asking that question.
He also laid some groundwork for future Mitch McConnell bashing: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday it’s his understanding that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants the Senate to consider water resources legislation that includes funding to address the water crisis in Flint, Michigan." Your move, Mitch.
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