Politico congressional reporter Mia McCarthy joined Springfield's Morning News to discuss the potential for a government shutdown and if Sen. Durbin will vote for the Republican continuing resolution.
09:37 Share

To kind of walk us through what the situation is in Washington today and what to expect for the rest of the day and tonight, and maybe if there is a shutdown. We're pleased to welcome Mia McCarthy. She covers Congress for Politico. Mia, good morning. How are you? Good morning. Thanks for having me. Thanks for taking a few minutes. I know you're a busy bee this week. So we saw that the House passed...

This CR, and it's not a clean CR, right? It's not just continuing spending at current levels. It has some cuts. It has some increases in other places. The Democrats saw it as toxic. The House barely gets it done. It seemed earlier in the week that when they did, that it was just DOA in the Senate. But here we sit Friday morning, and maybe it's not. How has thinking shifted over the last couple of days?

Yeah. So throughout the week, Senate Democrats have really looked at the House saying, we'll see if the House can pass this. We'll see what the House does first, even though it was becoming increasingly clear that the House was going to pass this stopgap funding bill. So come to I believe it was what day of the week is it now? Friday. Today is Friday. Correct. Right. On Wednesday, you know, Schumer announces that.

that Democrats are not going to support this, that they don't have the 60 votes needed to end debate on this and to ultimately to advance this bill.

He then 24 hours later, it's a big shift. Right. He comes out eventually. And meanwhile, you know, throughout the week, Senate Democrats are meeting. You know, I was meeting for having lunches in the middle of the day that are like over an hour long, just trying to hash out what to do. Right. It's a it's a hard decision either you vote.

vote against this but risk a government shutdown which you know democrats could be blamed for this even though they push uh they've been trying to push the blame onto republicans but at the same time you know this isn't the funding deal that they really wanted to agree to so it's it's not a good decision for either either way for them but yeah on thursday so yesterday schumer comes out and says that he's ultimately going to vote for to um end debate on this to advance this cr

That's a big move. We don't know exactly which other Senate Democrats yet. We're still like seeing some of them come in who will support it going forward. Yeah. Fetterman's the only other one. Fetterman is the only other one. Exactly. So we were kind of still waiting. A lot of them have said they're no on the final passage. But, you know, this is the key thing to unlock it. This key vote, the 60 where they need 8.

Democrats, I believe, to go over because Rand Paul is not going to support this. The word of the day, campers, is cloture. And that's the vote. That's the vote to get to 60 so it ends debate. Exactly. For the people who don't live in Senate rules. Exactly.

Yeah, so they're going to need eight Democrats to vote on this to to not for the final passage, but to end debate, they're going to need 60 votes total. But Schumer, you know, hit the fact that he's going out and saying he's going to vote for this. That kind of opens the door for a lot of Senate Democrats voting.

who, you know, maybe were going back and forth and waiting for a little bit of guidance there. Mia McCarthy from Politico joins us here on 92.7 WMAY. I could not for the life of me other than looking to not get blamed for a shutdown, which I mean would be the only base reason, but Schumer's tone in 24 hours changed complete 180. What was the reason behind that? Do you guys know?

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is, you know, a government shutdown, uh,

is not fun for anyone, right? Again, it was kind of going back to how this was a bad decision, no matter what decision they decide to make, right? In one way, you kind of are letting Trump continue to do a lot of these cuts that he's talking about. And, you know, you're getting a lot of backlash from your base if you're a Senate Democrat, right? Like, we're already seeing an uproar of Democrats who are really upset with Schumer. I was actually at the Democrats' retreat yesterday, House Democrats, sorry, issues retreats,

conference, as they call it. And we were already seeing Democrats, you know, this whole week their message was clear to Senate Democrats was

you know, stand up, don't pass this, let them try to reach another deal with us. Um, and so, you know, we, we already are kind of seeing the, the backlash of that. Um, but Schumer's, I think his, you know, and he, he released an op-ed. He also gave a floor speech. Um, and, you know, I had heard just talking to some sources and stuff as well. You know, I think he made a big, um,

He didn't want Democrats to be blamed for this in the end. And we're already seeing the pressure from Republicans calling this a Schumer shutdown online, really putting him in a corner on that, that

If this does shut down, they are going to blame Democrats and Democrats. Again, we're trying to say Republicans, you know, they have control of the House, Senate and White House. If there's a government shutdown, it's on them. But again, they don't know how necessarily that which message was going to get across if we did reach the point of a government shutdown. Obviously, a home cooking question here. Dick Durbin has said he's not decided yet. Does the Schumer coming out make it more likely Durbin goes with him?

Yeah, possibly. I mean, they represent a different generation in the Senate as well, right? I think a lot of us, a lot of people were surprised so far to see, you know, a few of the Democrats who represent Trump won states to come out and say they're going to vote no on cloture. We're still waiting on a few of them to see if they are going to vote for that procedural vote or not. But

I think you could also, you know, you know, there's also a question of whether Durbin retires. You know, if he retires, is this something that he votes with Schumer on? But, yeah, I mean, they're from the same kind of generation of the Senate. They both have been along for a long time.

So I you know, the fact that he's undecided could indicate that he might move with Schumer. Oh, trust me, the Durbin's future is a hot topic around here. We can talk about some time, but I'm sure I mean, the idea, though, that you say you've got two Democrats, right? You've got Fatterman, you've got Schumer.

So finding six others feels like a monumental task, even if Schumer gave them the okay, because Democrats lost some of their most moderate members, their tester, their mansion, their cinema. So now maybe Gallego goes along. Warner said he's not going to. Mark Kelly has no interest in doing any business with Schumer.

with white house right now after president Elon called him a traitor. I mean, it's just, I, I don't see where the votes come from, even if they're released to him. I, am I missing something? Yeah. I mean, I think a lot of it too, is I, I think a lot of senators are going to hold their cards to their chest until the last minute. Right. Um, I do believe some Senate Democrats are still holding out for a shorter term CR for another deal. That's something they've been really pushing for this week. Um,

But the house went home. So, I mean, that's, that's not totally, I mean, the house went home, but if they have to fly them back, they will. And that's, you know, we've seen that in the past before. So, but I, yes, I exactly. They're not, they're not in session right now. They would have to all come back to pass a shorter term CR. And the likelihood of that happening today is very, is very unlikely. So, I mean, yeah, it is going to be tough because these classic moderates who are, were willing to work more with, with,

With with Republicans on something like this, like you mentioned, Sinema Mansion, you know, they're not here anymore. So it's going to be tough. But we're kind of just following throughout the day to see if we get any indication on which way they'll vote. Again, it's it's it. Schumer kind of opens that door for them. But.

It's now a question of whether, you know, they're going to see this backlash and say, you know, I am going to stand up to Trump here and risk a government shutdown. Or if, you know, in the end, basically a government shutdown isn't worth it in that regard. Mia McCarthy from Politico, before we let you go, what's the feeling just in, I don't know if you're over at the Capitol yet this morning, but I mean, just you generally get a sense, you know, how things are going to shake out during the course of a day like this, either, you

People are going to come to their senses. They're going to make a deal. X, Y, Z. I'm obviously not there, but I get the feeling that we just don't know what to expect today.

Yeah, it's it's definitely I mean, we're we're going right up to the finish line here, right? The government shut down. The funding ends tonight, I believe. So even midnight tonight. So, yeah, they're really like running the clock here to try to get this across the finish line or, you know, start a government shutdown to kind of stand up to Trump. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of uncertainties right now. I think Schumer announcing that, you know,

But Schumer and, you know, announcing that he is going to vote for this procedural vote definitely opens up a door for a lot of Senate Democrats who maybe weren't sure. But again, we haven't seen them say much. Schumer got a lot of backlash like last night. So that could also influence their decisions. And we'll see where it goes from there.

Mia McCarthy from Politico. Find her stuff all day at politico.com, on Twitter at reporter underscore Mia. Good stuff as always, Mia. I appreciate you taking some time. I know you're busy today. So thanks so much for a few minutes this morning. Yeah, thanks so much. Have a great rest of your day.