Centrist Republicans warn against Trump's partisan shutdown strategy

Source: msn/Reuters

12h


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's freezing of funds for Democratic-led states has raised concerns among some centrist Republicans in the U.S. Congress, who worry that leaning into these divisions could make it harder to end an ongoing government shutdown.

"You're going to create a bad faith environment here that could put us further out. They need to be very judicious," Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who is involved in informal bipartisan talks to end the shutdown, told reporters in the U.S. Capitol this week. The government shutdown entered its fourth day on Saturday, making it the fifth longest in U.S. history.

Trump warned Democrats earlier in the week that he could make "irreversible" cuts to the federal government during a shutdown and the White House has so far frozen $28 billion in infrastructure funds that had been headed to New York, California and Illinois - all home to sizable Democratic populations and critics of the president.

Trump and his Republican allies have also taunted Democrats on social media with manipulated images of prominent lawmakers including House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries that drew on stereotyped images of Mexicans, despite the reality that Republicans will need the votes of at least seven Senate Democrats to pass a funding bill to reopen the government. Vice President JD Vance this week dismissed concerns about the images, calling them a joke.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/centrist-republicans-warn-against-trump-s-partisanpch.com-shutdown-strategy/ar-AA1NQFSs