The bitter budget dispute has embroiled Republicans and Democrats for months as Monday’s deadline draws near. Now, with less than a week to resolve the issue, it seems that partisan gridlock has created a more likely government shutdown than previous sequestration threats.
Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas has pushed for Senate Republicans to vote against bringing up the vote on a House passed spending bill that features an amendment defunding Obama’s healthcare, instead risking government shutdown.
But contrary to the Republicans standing with Cruz, senators Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, there are plenty of Republicans trying to derail his campaign, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
“The overwhelming majority of republicans I’ve spoken to don’t support what Ted Cruz is doing on the floor and they don’t think it’s good for their party or the country,” said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois on Tuesday’s The Daily Rundown.
Instead, Durbin told host Chuck Todd that he believes resolving the budget requires a bipartisan approach.
“Moving this whole process forward requires some bipartisan cooperation,” he told Todd. “Playing these doomsday scenarios of shutting down the government, failing to extend the debt ceiling, for a handful of Republican leaders that may sound like good politics, but for most responsible leaders in both political parties, it’s exactly the wrong way to go.”
Despite this week’s Cruz controversy, Durbin expressed that he still feels the senate has shown leadership and productivity because of its bipartisan efforts.
“I think the Senate has shown leadership – on immigration, on the farm bill, student loans – we put together the bipartisan coalitions that have sent these bills to the house. There they languish.”
Watch Sen. Durbin’s full conversation with Chuck Todd above.
Alex Stambaugh