House Democrats raised the prospect of President Trump shutting down the government if he loses the presidential election, according to a report on Tuesday.
According to Politico’s Playbook morning newsletter, House Democrat leadership met on Capitol Hill for the first time in awhile on Monday evening and “began to confront” the question: “If DONALD TRUMP loses, will he lash out and do something dramatic, like shut down the government?”
Neither Trump nor any other Republican has suggested anything like that. Democrats, have, however, continuously floated scenarios where Trump loses but does not accept the outcome. At the same time, Democrats — such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — have suggested that if Vice President Joe Biden loses, he should not accept the outcome.
Nevertheless, the scenario was reportedly raised in the closed-door, no-staff meeting by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). Politico’s report said: “It’s more than a passing political hypothetical. It’s a real-life governing challenge that Democrats believe they are being forced to confront in the coming days.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is working with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on bills to fund the new fiscal year once the current one expires on September 30.
According to Politico, Democrats are considering extending government funding to sometime in December, which would be after the election but before Congress recesses for the calendar year.
However, if the election is undecided by the deadline, lawmakers may not be able to agree on spending bills that would determine spending in the next year.
Congress could extend current funding in a continuing resolution (CR) until February, but that could also postpone off any COVID-19 relief bills.
So far, it seems unlikely that lawmakers will pass spending bills on time, before October 1, 2020, with the election — which would have a big impact on next year’s spending priorities — just a month away.
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