Self-professed 'guy who gets us out of shutdowns' won't allow vote to get us out of shutdown

A lot of things have changed since 2014. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) take on shutdowns is one of them.

In 2014, the then-minority leader spoke with CNN's Dana Bash about the possibility of his party gaining the majority in that year's midterms. Asked if he'd allow another shutdown like the one that happened in 2013, McConnell said: "Of course not. Remember me? I am the guy that gets us out of shutdowns," likely referring to a bill he introduced that was passed in the Senate with bipartisan support before being signed by former President Barack Obama, ending the impasse.

Flash forward to 2019, and the shutdown that started last year is still on. Democrats proposed a bill last week that would fund all closed government departments except Homeland Security, separating President Trump's border wall demand from the rest of the shutdown. But McConnell later said "the Senate will not waste its time considering a Democratic bill which cannot pass this chamber and which the president will not sign."

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With Democrats running the House now, there's a strong chance anything Democrats support in the Senate would end up on Trump's desk. The Democrat-backed bill would let Trump continue to negotiate for his wall, as legislators would still have to agree on a separate spending bill to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security.