Sen. Joe Manchin, who leaves office next month, says he doesn’t expect a government shutdown despite uncertainty over passing the bill a day before the deadline. He said that no matter what deal House Republicans reach to fund the government, the Senate will “give it all it’s worth,” support the government and return home for the holidays.
But he doesn’t think Congress will heed President-elect Donald Trump’s last-minute demands to suspend or eliminate the debt ceiling. President Trump called on Republicans to reject the bill introduced by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. expense bill It’s not just about increasing government funding. The bill includes disaster relief, health care extensions and pay raises for members of Congress.
Manchin, the senior independent senator from West Virginia, spoke on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” just before Manchin leaves office and as the federal government faces a possible government shutdown. With Manchin choosing not to run for re-election in the heavily Republican state, Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice will win the Senate race and take Manchin’s seat in January.
Asked by Brennan if he thought it would be shut down, Manchin said, “No, I don’t.” Manchin said the Senate will have to “pretty much” swallow whatever the House ends up doing.
“Pretty much, you’re in this situation right now. They just want to get out of here and not shut down the government and survive to keep fighting another day,” Manchin said. “I can see what’s going to happen. So for now, I think with my vote or someone else’s vote, we’re going to get a deal. They’re going to swallow hard and say, ‘Let’s go home for Christmas.’ That’s what happens. ”
“They’re not going to fight, no matter what the situation is, no matter what they have to do to lose weight,” he added. “There’s not much fighting left.”
A bill that provides temporary funding to the government, known as a bill. Ongoing solutionwhich was expected to pass with bipartisan support, suddenly It fell apart On Wednesday, Trump ally Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, attacked the policy on X, and Trump expressed his own dissatisfaction with the measure. If Congress does not pass the bill by late Friday, many government functions will cease, federal workers will not be paid and vacationers could face long security lines at airports.
But Manchin doesn’t think Trump’s desire to lift the debt ceiling will come true. President Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend or completely eliminate the federal debt ceiling as part of a government spending deal before he takes office in January and Republicans take full control of Congress.
“That’s not going to happen,” Manchin said, adding that he doesn’t think Democrats would buy into the idea at this point. “We need bipartisanship here,” he said.
Brennan noted that suspending or eliminating federal borrowing limits would require 60 votes in the Senate.
“We have 51 Democrats right now,” Manchin said. “So if you had all 49 Republicans, you’d need 11 Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. I just don’t think they’ll have the votes to do that.”
