A senior administration official claims that Democrats are winning a standoff over funding the federal government, which was forced by House Republicans Tuesday over a demand to delay and defund President Barack Obama’s signature health reform law, and that it didn’t “really matter” how long it lasts.
Per an anonymous quote published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal:
Said a senior administration official: “We are winning…It doesn’t really matter to us” how long the shutdown lasts “because what matters is the end result.”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) held up a copy of the article at a Friday news conference on the Hill and criticized the White House. “This isn’t some damn game!” he exclaimed.
As the shutdown enters its fourth day, both Democrats and Republicans showed no signs of progress in resolving the impasse but the battle for public opinion has heated up.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) were caught on a hot mic Wednesday night while discussing their party’s messaging on the government shutdown, where the Kentucky senator similarly claimed that Republicans were “gonna win this.”
“I think if we keep saying ‘We wanted to defund it. We fought for that but now we’re willing to compromise on this,’ I think they can’t — we’re gonna, I think — well I know we don’t want to be here, but we’re gonna win this I think,” Paul said.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) also caught mockery from President Obama when he told the Washignton Examiner that House Republicans “have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
Update: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tweeted Friday that the administration “utterly [disavows] idea WH doesn’t care when it ends. House should act now, no strings attached.”
Watch video of Boehner below:
