Trump Thinks The Government Needs A ‘Shutdown’ This Fall And A Change In Filibuster Rules

Over the weekend, bipartisan members of Congress agreed on a spending deal that would fund the government until September, avoiding a shutdown for the time being. Since the bill contained added defense spending and money for border security, but no money for The Wall and no defunding of Planned Parenthood, it wasn’t really a win for President Trump. In classic Trump fashion, it didn’t take long for the President to take to Twitter to register his complaints, saying the negotiating process in Congress proved that the country needed “a good shutdown” while also changing the Senate rules. Great.

In the tweets, Trump says that the only reason the Republicans negotiated a deal is because the Republicans in the Senate do not have 60 votes at all times. So, in order to “fix” things, more Republican Senators need to be elected, or the filibuster needs to go the way of the dodo. Perhaps a shutdown will get the ball rolling.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, was quick to react to Trump, saying, “The President just called for a government shutdown this fall. No President has ever done anything like this.” However, after the Senate Republicans broke the filibuster by deploying the nuclear option to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Trump’s permanent proposal that allows for a simple majority isn’t that farfetched.

Like his first 100 days in office, Trump seems to be intent on saying false and/or confusing things in the second 100 days as well. That’ll probably continue as more and more compromises need to be made with his opponents in order to keep the lights on at the Smithsonian.

(Via CNN)