Mulvaney says it's 'very possible' the shutdown continues to the next Congress

published 23 December 2018

The partial government shutdown that began Saturday at midnight may well continue past the end of the month and into the new Congress due to be sworn in Jan. 3, incoming acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney indicated on Fox News Sunday.

The Senate will not resume negotiations until Thursday, Dec. 27, and "it's very possible that the shutdown will [continue] into the new Congress," Mulvaney said.

He suggested House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be unwilling to work with the Trump administration until after she has been elected speaker by the incoming Democratic majority. "I think she's in that unfortunate position of being beholden to her left wing to where she cannot be seen as agreeing with the president on anything until after she is speaker," Mulvaney argued. "If that's the case, again, there's a chance we go into the next Congress."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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