McConnell: Democrats Are ‘Prepared to Shut Down the Government Over the Issue of Illegal Immigration’

During a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated Democrats are prepared to shut the government down because “they can’t get their way” on illegal immigration.

McConnell said, “[T]he bill that’s before us, that we just voted to proceed to, I believe enjoys the support — every element of it enjoys the support of almost everybody on both sides of the aisle. So, it’s appropriate to ask the question, why are we where we are? Only one reason, the continued interjection of an issue about which there is no urgency into a discussion about how to deal with a potpourri of issues that do need to be urgently met, and that’s the issue of illegal immigration. So, what our friends on the other side are saying here is, they’re prepared to shut down the government over the issue of illegal immigration.”

He later added Democrats “are now saying to the American people, ‘We’re going to shut the government down if we can’t have our way on this issue right now,’ even though it only becomes a problem in March.”

McConnell concluded, “[M]y assumption is, at some point between now and tomorrow night, 41 members of the opposition party are going to prevent us from passing a measure, the details of which they all support, because they can’t get their way on this illegal immigration issue, which really only becomes urgent in March.”

(h/t Mariam Khan)

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