FROM THE HILL: President Trump on Friday predicted the government would shut down “for a period of time” amid an impasse in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats.
Trump expressed some pessimism about the two sides reaching an agreement that can garner 60 votes in the Senate.
Republicans have 53 seats in the chamber, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to support a funding measure to keep the government open.
House Republicans earlier Friday approved a short-term government spending package to avert a shutdown at month’s end. The legislation was crafted by Republicans without Democratic input.
Hours later, Senate Democrats blocked the House-passed bill. Republicans also defeated an alternative proposal that would have moved the deadline to Oct. 31, raising the chances of a shutdown.
“We’ll continue to talk to the Democrats, but I think you could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time,” Trump said.
“And we’ll take care of the military. We’ll take care of Social Security. We’ll take care of the things we have to take care of. A lot of the things Democrats fight for…will not be able to be paid,” Trump added.
As for reaching an agreement, Trump said, “So we’ll watch and see how we do with that. I don’t know if you can make a deal with these people.”
“I think these people are crazy,” he added.
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