Posted on 01/24/2019 8:25:14 PM PST by be-baw
Frustrated GOP senators read Vice President Pence the riot act at a closed-door meeting Thursday, telling him the partial government shutdown needs to end soon, according to lawmakers in the room.
Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), warned the vice president that prolonging the shutdown is not a smart political strategy, in hopes of sending a clear message to President Trump that he needs to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.
Lawmakers vented their irritation to Pence shortly before six GOP senators defected to vote for a Democratic-backed bill that would open the government without funding Trump’s proposed border wall.
One GOP senator said lawmakers told Pence “the shutdown needs to come to an end, this is not a strategy that works [and] we never should have had a shutdown in the first place.”
Pence in turn told them that “the president is interested in striking a deal,” according to the source.
The pushback against Pence came from outspoken critics of the shutdown like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), as well as from lawmakers who usually keep a lower profile — Sens. John Boozman (Ark.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.).
One of the most remarkable moments during the Senate luncheon came when McConnell told Pence that shuttering the government to try to secure funding for a border wall was not a smart approach.
“McConnell talked about how we need to bring this process to a close; we should never have had a shutdown; they don’t work; I’ve said this numerous times; I don’t know how many times I’ve told you there’s no education in the second kick of a mule,” said a GOP source familiar with the meeting.
A spokesman for McConnell declined to comment on specific conversations during the private lunch but noted that the Kentucky Republican made his thoughts about a potential government shutdown clear in mid-December.
“I think that a government shutdown is not a good option. That’s my view. The American people don’t like it,” the GOP leader told reporters on Dec. 18, four days before funding lapsed. “You remember my favorite country saying, ‘There’s no education in the second kick of a mule.’ We’ve been down this path before.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said after Thursday’s meeting but before the Senate votes that colleagues were “airing their concerns.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters after the Senate votes that Pence got an “earful” from senators.
“We’re all hearing from our constituents who are working for no pay,” Cornyn said. “And there’s a parade of horribles of how people who are having to cope with not getting paid, and it’s not good.”
“There was a lot of frustration expressed about the situation we find ourselves in,” he added.
Pence urged Republican lawmakers at the lunch to stay unified, pressing them not to vote for the proposal from Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) to fund the government until Feb. 8 without additional funding for a border wall, according to the GOP source familiar with the meeting.
To underscore the stern message they sent to Pence, six Republicans — Murkowski, Isakson and Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Mitt Romney (Utah) — voted for the Democratic proposal. But the 52-44 vote fell short of the 60 needed to advance the bill.
Murkowski said after the votes that she told Pence the shutdown has to end as quickly as possible.
“I reminded colleagues that I was feeling a very keen sense of urgency on this because Alaska has the highest number of federal workers that are impacted by the partial shutdown and we needed to get this open now,” said Murkowski, who is supporting a measure with Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin (Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) that would reopen the government for three weeks without providing wall funding.
Isakson’s spokeswoman, Amanda Maddox, said her boss "spoke to his colleagues at today’s lunch to share his reasoning for voting the way he planned.”
“He didn’t know the vice president would be at today’s lunch when he decided on making the speech,” Maddox said. “He wasn’t trying to send any message but was merely speaking his conscience.”
Bush League Republicans still want to complete the Bush Plan for North Mexico (aka USA).
They do not intend to allow us to keep our country.
We have way too many Nancy boys in our ranks.
I hope Pence gave them a message for me. He’s probably too much a gentleman.
[how spineless]
Dey is in cahoots!
They only had the Presidency, the Senate, the House......
Yes we are.
A world power in it’s day, started as a republic then corruption and senseless wars by a series of careless leadership(Generational Families)and then turned into a dictatorship seized by power mad men promising to rule for the people’s weal...
Sounds eerily familiar indeed.
Oops!
I forgot Alexander, who appears to be taking a page from, say Bob Corker, to sell out his principles as he heads to retirement.
You have all the power you need right now to get wall funding passed through the Senate.
Go nuclear on the 60-vote cloture. You make the rules. Change them. There's NOTHING in the Constitution supporting a 60-vote mandate.
Then pass a bill with wall funding. You have the votes easily.
Problem solved in the Senate.
You're welcome,
Joe Constituent
The people aren’t rioting. I think these Rinos need to keep the money from the drug and human trafficking cartels and money laundering banks flowing into their off shore accounts.
To them the shutdown they worry about is the money stream from the drug trade.
Exactly! Fund the wall! Problem solved. The money not paid out to those non-essential 800,000 workers for the last month... is the same amount of money that President Trump asked for the wall! Fund the wall with the money not paid out for the last month! These workers get that much money each month, every month. A tiny fraction of the annual budget. Fund the wall, problem solved. Just one b*tch causing the lack of funding!
The Democratic wing of the Republican party!
I know it’s the Hill, but I just sent an email to Isakson that said...
Senator, this is no time to go wobbly. BUCK UP!
That’s crazy talk right there. I basically said the same thing.
“they’re standing up for their donors.”
Everyone thinks that their “donors” are businesses that need cheap labor. But that’s only a small part; that’s their fig leaf.
The drug dealers, drug traffickers, and money laundering banks are where the big money is.
I was surprised to see Mitt Romeny break ranks with loyal Trump supporters and vote with the Democrats. I’m jomking, nobody should be surprised this trader is already showing his Democrat support over our president and OUR country.
I see your point.
It really is frustrating how President Trump and the GOP could not have tackled immigration right out of the gate.
Never thought we would find ourselves this mired down at this junction with little to no progress in controlling our borders and revamping our immigration laws.
Hoping PDJT finally pulls the trigger on the National Security Emergency Declaration, although I realize the courts will intervene. It’s just so hard to imagine how the Uniparty will ante up the funds for the barricade we need, especially when the RINOs vote like they did today.
This tells me all I need to know. The shutdown is working.
We will get our wall.
Exactly.
Which is why I gave them the same statement I would give to Democrats. Because....
[right out of the gate]
The Democrats, the GOP Establishment and the Deep State (or let’s just call them the “Deep State” for shorthand) made sure to disrupt, block, delay, obstruct, etc.
Had this been done earlier, with a NUKE, I suspect the midterms would have gone better, too.
The leadership told Trump they would go for the wall funding after the midterms. Now they must choke on it. This is our will.
It is time to write/email/phone Senator McConnell. Here is the email I just sent in case you’d rather copy/paste than vent:
Dear Senator McConnell,
I have been watching the Republican party pretend to promote conservative principles only when they are in the minority. When we had both houses, both the Senate and House refused to support a majority of President Trump’s efforts, especially repealing Obamacare and funding a wall on our southern border.
Do not succumb. Leave the measly small percentage of the government closed until the Dems are on their knees begging for the wall.
In fact, add $100,000,000 to the border funding requirements for every day that the Democrats refuse to negotiate. This is why conservative principles almost never get passed. We get crumbs and the socialist Democrats get whatever they want.
When Republicans only had a majority in the House, they said, “We can’t do anything because we’re just 1/3 of the government.” Now the Democrats are in that position and you still want to give them everything they want.
Please hold firm. In fact, it’s time to start RIFing most of those furloughed government workers. Only keep those who continue to work without pay (but will be paid when the DEMOCRATS AGREE TO FUND THE WALL!!! And not before then.
This is absolutely absurd. Do your job. Support our President and stop bowing down to socialists who really do want to destroy our liberty.
Sincerely,
I don’t understand what there is for Republicans to eb frustrated about. I voted Republican and I don’t care how long the gumming stays shut. I wouldn’t even notice that it was shut down except for the news stories about the horrible shut down.
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