Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday wouldn’t rule out — or endorse — a strategy that could spark a government shutdown battle over President Barack Obama’s promised executive actions on immigration.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, the Kentucky Republican was asked if he’d support Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) plan to attach a provision rolling back Obama’s move to a must-pass bill to keep the federal government open past Sept. 30.
“I hadn’t heard about that before. We’ll talk about all that when we get back in session,” he said.
Rubio’s comments were published in Breitbart, a conservative website, on Tuesday and have received attention elsewhere since then. Congress is on recess until the second week of September, when it’ll have about 10 working days to agree on a government funding bill or risk a shutdown. Obama’s immigration action is expected by the end of the summer.
McConnell is in the midst of a tough reelection battle. He said he doesn’t want to see the government shut down this year or next year if he becomes majority leader.
