Report: House GOP leaders worry support for Trump's shutdown is dwindling
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Republican leaders are afraid that when the House votes on Wednesday for a Democratic bill to reopen agencies closed in the government shutdown, several dozen GOP lawmakers will side with the Democrats, Politico reports.
Democrats are hoping that Republicans will feel pressure to break from President Trump and vote for the bill, which would fund the Treasury Department, including the IRS, and some of the other nine Cabinet departments affected by the shutdown. A senior House GOP aide told Politico that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is concerned that at least 15 to 25 Republicans will vote with the Democrats. "We have a lot of members who are gonna want to vote for these things," the aide said. "Publicly, we will never tell them to do it. Privately, we will tell them to do what they have to do." Should 55 Republicans join all the Democrats to vote "yes," they'll reach 290 votes and a veto-proof majority, but the aides said McCarthy does not think this will happen.
On Tuesday night, Trump will deliver a televised address on what he is calling a "national security crisis on our southern border," and House Republicans will also hear from Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Trump wants more than $5 billion for a border wall, a demand Democrats have repeatedly nixed. More than 800,000 federal workers have been hit by the shutdown, and their first missed paycheck will be felt this week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
‘Poor time management isn’t just an inconvenience’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
