Rep. Steve Israel (right) called the shutdown "one of the dumbest things" Republicans can do.
From week one of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner has
gone all in with letting the House crazy caucus hijack the GOP agenda. Even as catastrophe nears, nothing has changed:
Outside conservative groups, including Heritage Action, have been pushing Republicans to not approve a “clean” funding plan, demanding that any DHS budget include the immigration provisions that would reverse Obama’s actions.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has sided with Heritage Action and other conservatives, even after the judge’s ruling last week that could tie up the issue for many months in the courts.
As the de facto chair of the House crazy caucus, Rep. Steve King, doubled down Tuesday on choking off funding for Homeland Security
in a Twitter rant and Sen. Mitch McConnell
looked for a way out, Democrats have been left to wonder, "What the heck can Republicans possibly be thinking?"
“It’s one of the dumbest things they can do, and it’s also one of the most dangerous things they can do,” Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) said in an interview. “They are literally flirting with disaster.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said: “I think the political implications are very bad for the people who want to shut the government down.”
Even Democrats who oppose Obama's 2014 immigration actions, like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, are marveling at the GOP leadership's suicide pact, especially given last week's court decision halting the president's actions.
“I think our Republican friends are in perfect position right now with the court order,” Manchin said. “And the president said he would back down and wait until the judge rules. That’s a perfect position to be in to get a clean DHS bill.”
It's left Republicans like Sen. John McCain of Arizona sounding almost downright rational.
“We need to fund the Department of Homeland Security. We cannot shut down the Department of Homeland Security,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday evening. He repeated himself for emphasis: “I said we cannot shut down the Department of Homeland Security.”