Biden says no shutdown unless 'somebody decides to be totally erratic'
President Biden on Thursday dismissed any threat of a government shutdown, "assuring a plan with 'everything in place' was supported by a majority of Senate Republicans and Democrats," The Washington Post reports.
When asked by a reporter if there would be a shutdown on Friday, Biden, who had just engaged with Senate leaders directly, confidently answered "no," before calling the question "silly."
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On Thursday, leaders announced they had struck a deal to fund the government into February of next year, a stopgap measure ahead of Friday's deadline but a solution nonetheless, the Post reports. The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday afternoon, but the Senate remains "paralyzed by partisan bickering, as conservatives mounted a fresh political stand against the Biden administration's response to the coronavirus," writes the Post.
The country could enter a short-term shutdown this weekend if Congress does not send a bill to Biden's desk by the deadline.
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