Trump's put himself in a 'big mess' as House Dems sit back and watch GOP 'squirm': report
President-elect Donald Trump faces the very real possibility of being the first-ever American president to be inaugurated with a shut-down federal government.
As Politico reported, the decision by Trump and X owner Elon Musk to kill the bipartisan funding deal to keep the government open has put Trump in a "big mess" at a time when he hoped to be hitting the ground running in his second term.
"Two shocks to the system this week have cast Washington into chaos as Republicans scramble to avoid a self-created looming government shutdown and weather a market slide at the peak of the holiday season," Politico writes.
"As American consumers capped off their highest-spending season of the year, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates — and markets slid. At the same time, Trump’s mega-ally Elon Musk attacked a spending bill backed by Speaker Mike Johnson, sinking it with a barrage of X posts threatening that any GOP lawmaker who supports it should be ousted."
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While many Republicans in Congress have been cheering on the prospect of a month-long government shutdown, Politico noted that such shutdowns have historically been unpopular with voters and have never benefited the party that's been seen as instigating them.
This is why, the publication adds, Democrats seem to be in no mood to ride to the GOP's rescue.
"Democrats... are watching their colleagues squirm," Politico reports. "In a statement Wednesday evening, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed GOP lawmakers for 'playing politics' and said a shutdown would 'hurt hard-working Americans and create instability across the country.'"