Seeking to avoid a presidential national emergency, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he supports legislation to end the leveraging tactic of government shutdowns – "an example of government dysfunction, which should be embarrassing to everyone on a bipartisan basis."
"I don't like shutdowns," Sen. McConnell told reporters Tuesday. "I don't think they work for anybody, and I hope they'll be avoided. I'd be open to anything that we could agree on a bipartisan basis that would make them pretty hard to occur again."
McConnell added "there are some differences on how to craft that" and also how to avoid another shutdown over President Donald Trump's request for $5.7 billion in funding for a border barrier.
"I'm for whatever works, which means avoiding a shutdown and avoiding the president feeling he should declare a national emergency," he said. "Exactly how to do that, as you all know, has been quite challenging.
"I'm for narrow, or broader. I'm for whatever works that prevents the level of dysfunction we've seen on full display here the last month and also doesn't bring about a view on the president's part that he's declared a national emergency.
"To predict going in, exactly what that is, is impossible."
Members of Congress began meetings Tuesday aimed at striking a deal on border security.