McConnell Says He's 'Very Confident' Congress Can Avoid Shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s “very confident” Congress can pass a funding bill that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of April.

McConnell weighed in on the the first discussions about government-wide spending in President Donald Trump’s administration on “Fox News Sunday,” saying the appropriations committees of the House and Senate were “working on the bills on a bipartisan basis” to fund the government after April 28.

“We’ll be talking to Senate Democrats,” he said. “It will require 60 votes.”

The Kentucky Republican said Republicans and Democrats would “negotiate” about the Trump administration’s priorities: initial funding to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, cuts to domestic programs, and increases in military spending.

The resulting bill will fund the government through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year, McConnell said.

McConnell added that he is “confident Senate Democrats are not going to want to shut down the government” because Congress, rather than the president, tends to get the blame in public opinion when such events occur.