The government shutdown standoff in Congress, pitting critical funding for the U.S. military against protections for illegal immigrants, does not bode well for Democrats in a "fight they will never win," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday.
"I think the Republicans and the president think they are winning," Gingrich told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y.
Gingrich predicted one of two things will happen fairly quickly as the Senate fell 10 votes shy of 60 (50-49) to pass a Continuing Resolution to temporarily fund the government early Saturday morning:
1. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., "will cave," or
2. Ten Democratic senators up for re-election in states won by President Donald Trump in the 2016 election will break from Schumer's hard-line opposition to the president's agenda and say "'We can't keep doing this.'"
"This is not what the Democrats hoped for, and I think President Trump has played this pretty well," Gingrich told host John Catsimatidis.
Republicans are dug in against Schumer's push to pit illegal immigration against paying the men and women of the U.S. military, among other critical government spending, a miscalculation by Democratic leadership that GOP sees as a "huge mistake" politically.
"The attitude right now in the administration is that they won't give [Schumer] anything, because they think he has made a huge mistake," Gingrich said. ". . . When the term, the Schumer Shutdown, begins to catch on, you don't have any sense of people who are inclined to back off."
Gingrich predicted a deal on a 10-12 day Continuing Resolution might come late Sunday night or early Monday morning to avoid this becoming a national security threat.
"I would not at all be surprised to see the Democrats cave and accept it, because where they are at right now is so untenable," Gingrich said.
"Having done this before, if I were the Democrats, I would offer a full year of funding for the Defense Department and get it off the table. As long as this is at risk, they will never win this fight."
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