On early Tuesday, Trump tweeted that Republicans need to either change the rules of Congress, get more Senators in 2018, or simply stage a government shutdown this fall to fix Washington. His comments sparked a tidal wave of criticism as Trump is the first U.S. president to call for a government shutdown.
Trump is furious about a Senate rule that requires 60 Senators to pass a piece of legislation and dodge a filibuster. So, he vented his frustration – as he normally does – on Twitter.
The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
Democrats were in shock. Sen. Brian Schatz noted that Trump just called for a shutdown of the U.S. government this fall, a thing “no president has ever done.”
Trump Dreads Filibusters
The tweet comes just two days after Congress members announced that they had found a plan to avoid a shutdown, for at least this year. However, Trump is displeased some of his precious campaign promises couldn’t see the light of day because of the pesky congressional Democrats. For instance, the GOP needs a few Democrats’ help in Senate to pass border wall legislation.
Under current rules, the U.S. Senate requires 60 votes to pass a bill or measure without Democrats resorting to filibuster as they did with Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court role, Neil Gorsuch.
The head of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, criticized the Democratic party for their stubbornness about the budget deal. He pointed out that the administration found the necessary funding for the defense spending boost, so the border wall shouldn’t have been a problem.
But Mulvaney had a strong-worded message for the president too. He told Trump a government shutdown should not be seen as a goal per se but as a bargaining tool “to an extent”.
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