The American public generally blames the party in power during a federal government shutdown, and new polling finds that would be especially true should the Republicans fail to pass legislation to keep the lights on past midnight on Tuesday.
Nearly half the country (45%) will blame the GOP if no agreement can be reached in little more than 24 hours, a new Morning Consult poll released Monday finds, according to Politico. Republicans say they want a “clean” continuing resolution, but Democrats are demanding any bill to keep the government open must restore funds to protect health care that were stripped out by the GOP.
Less than one-third of all Americans (32%) would blame Democrats for a shutdown.
Worse for Republicans, that 13-point margin (45-32) grows to 17 points against the GOP when polling only independent voters.
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And as Politico reported, “GOP voters are more likely to blame their own party than Democrats are,” for a shutdown. “Of the people surveyed, 33 percent of GOP voters would blame Republicans, and 22 percent of Democratic voters say they would blame Democrats.”
On Friday, Politico reported that the White House believes “that Democrats will be blamed for a shutdown and its ripple effects, which could include mass layoffs across the federal government.”
President Donald Trump on Thursday had blamed Democrats for what he called “unserious and ridiculous demands.”
“He read all the s– they’re asking for, and he said, ‘on second thought, go f– yourself,’” a White House official told Politico. But among what Democrats are asking is for “the GOP to extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were expanded by Congress in 2021 and are due to sunset at the end of the year.”
Meanwhile, Leader Schumer just announced, ahead of his meeting with the President, that he will propose a seven- to 10-day spending bill to keep the government operating so they can continue negotiations, according to Axios.
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Democrats are blasting President Trump.
“Back in 2013, Trump said it was the President’s job to negotiate and avoid a shutdown,” wrote U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). “I don’t say this often, but he was right. Now, Trump is running away from the health care crisis HE created and stonewalling bipartisan negotiations. Failure of leadership on every level.”
“What will you stop being able to afford if your premiums go up 75%?” asked U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). “Groceries, rent, saving for your kids’ education? This is the calculation families across the country are making right now – but it’s completely avoidable if Republicans drop their cruel cuts to health care.”
“This is a Republican-run government,” noted U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). “They have the White House, the House, and the Senate. They’ve had plenty of months to put forward legislation where they could work with us to get this passed. They waited until the very last minute. Donald Trump set a meeting, canceled a meeting, reset a meeting. This is entirely on them.”
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