House Republicans are facing a difficult choice: refuse to vote for Democrats’ funding bills and let the unpopular shutdown continue, or cross the aisle against the White House’s wishes.
According to a Monday Politico report, GOP leaders are worried that many of their caucus members will choose the latter as Democrats bring individual bills to fund different agencies to the floor in lieu of a comprehensive funding package.
While GOP leaders expect defections, they want to keep that number under 55: if that many Republicans join with all the House Democrats, they will create a veto-proof majority. Per Politico, though that would not help things along on the Senate side, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has followed Trump’s orders, it would be a blow to the President and optics of the shutdown.
The separate bills Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) intends to push include funding for SNAP (food stamps), the IRS and federal mortgage programs — all very difficult for Republicans to vote against.
