Government Shutdown In December Now Looking Like A Real Option For GOP

I said in early November that it was possible and perhaps even likely that Senate Republicans would consider a government shutdown THIS YEAR. Rather than wait until the next Congress, I said…

…the (GOP) leadership will be facing a very difficult decision over federal spending in less than a month when the the current continuing resolution — which is funding all federal agencies and departments that operate with annual appropriations — expires.

That’s the first point at which the GOP will have to face up to one of its most prominent campaign pledges: To significantly cut federal spending. The vote to extend the CR will be the first opportunity to face that challenge head on because it can be filibustered in the Senate. The Republicans there — (Actually, all you need is one: Can you say Jim DeMint?) are in a position to prevent the current CR from being extended if the new version doesn’t reduce spending to the level they want.

As this post from TPM indicates, the shutdown strategy may now be close — as in this week — to becoming a reality. Here’s the money quote:

Republican and Democratic leaders are now engaged in a brinksmanship that could result in a temporary shutdown of the federal government.

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About Stan Collender 126 Articles

Affiliation: Qorvis Communications

Stan Collender is a former New Yorker who, after getting a degree from the University of California, Berkeley, moved to Washington to get it out of his system. That was more than 30 years ago.

During most of his career, Collender has worked on the federal budget and congressional budget process, including stints on the staff of the House and Senate Budget Committees; founding the Federal Budget Report, a newsletter that was published for almost two decades; and for the past 11 years writing a weekly column for NationalJournal.com and now RollCall.com.

He is currently a managing director for Qorvis Communications, where he spends most of his time working with and for financial services clients.

Visit: Capital Gains and Games

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