'Misery march': Senate GOP fights to save Mike Johnson from shutdown debacle

27 February 2024

Editor's note: A previous version of this article stated Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on Feb. 25. It has been updated to reflect the correct date of Feb. 26.

When Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) spoke on the Senate floor on Monday, February 26, he urged House Republicans to work out some type of spending agreement with President Joe Biden and the U.S. Senate before a partial government shutdown occurs.

The Kentucky Republican warned, "Shutting down the government is harmful to the country, and it never produces positive outcomes on either policy or politics. What's more, a shutdown this week is entirely avoidable."

McConnell isn't the only Senate Republican who is speaking out.

In an article published the following day, The Hill's Alexander Bolton describes efforts by McConnell and other GOP senators to help House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) avoid a shutdown.

"Senate Republicans are trying to wave their House GOP counterparts away from blundering into a partial government shutdown at week's end, something that looks increasingly likely given Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) unstable grip on power over a narrow majority," Bolton explains. "GOP senators warn a shutdown for any reason would be a political loser and imperil their prospects in November…. Polls show that voters tend to blame Republicans for government shutdowns, and Senate Republicans fear their party will suffer most of the political fallout if Congress fails to keep federal departments and agencies funded by Friday's deadline."

Conservative Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Kentucky) is also expressing her frustration.

Capito told The Hill, "Shutdowns, I say repeatedly, are always a bad idea. It doesn't help anybody, and it's just a misery march."

When The Hill asked Capito how much confidence she had in Johnson's ability to avoid a shutdown, she responded, "You'll have to ask him that. I can't figure them out over there."

Sen. John Thune (D-South Dakota) implied that if a shutdown occurs, it won't be the Senate's fault.

Thune told The Hill, "I think these bills have been very thoroughly already amended in the Senate. If the House can figure out a way to process them, we can get this done by the end of the week. But that's going to be probably in their court."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) is sounding the alarm as well.

Bolton quotes Schumer as saying, "Unfortunately, our House Republican colleagues are still struggling to figure themselves out. So, I ask all senators to keep their schedules flexible. Now, Senate Democrats have been crystal clear. We want to avoid a government shutdown. But for that to happen, congressional leadership must resist the centrifugal pull of extremism emanating from the hard right."

Read The Hill's full report at this link.

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