“I wouldn’t commit to anything,” Donald Trump told reporters Sunday. The scary thing is that “anything” here is avoiding a government shutdown and keeping the government open through November.
Congress and Trump face a November 21 funding deadline after a short-term appropriations package kept the government open in September. Time is limited to pass the 12 funding bills needed to keep the government open—especially thanks to a House recess this week—and Trump “wouldn’t commit.”
Reporters asked Trump about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s concern that Trump would shut down the government to distract from impeachment, and he insisted that he doesn’t think Democrats “believe that at all.” Because Trump is such an expert on what Democrats believe—shoot, he’s not even a reliable source of information on what he himself is going to do next week. But would he shut down the government? Well, he sure won’t commit to keeping it open, and last winter’s 35-day partial shutdown sure shows the level of damage he’s willing to inflict on the country.