Sen. Mitt Romney says he doesn’t know when or how the partial government shutdown will end, and he’s not sure what will break the budget impasse that is now more than 30 days old.
“We’ve already departed from the normal legislative process,” says Romney. “Generally what happens is the House and Senate come together and work on a compromise proposal where the Democrats get something and the Republicans get something. That hasn’t happened and we’re in the conundrum we’re in right now.
So far, the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to vote on several funding measures passed by the Democratic-controlled House because President Donald Trump says he’ll refuse to sign any measure that does not include more than $5 billion for a border wall, which the Democrats say they won’t accept.
Romney says he does not see a scenario where Republicans and Democrats in Congress put together a measure that would get enough votes to override a presidential veto and open the government over President Donald Trump’s objections.
“I think it’s extremely unlikely that Republicans would say they’re not going to follow the president’s lead on this now,” said Romney. “I think Republicans are going to say the president is negotiating on their behalf. I just don’t see very many Republicans that would be willing to depart from the leadership of the White House.”
Listen to the full podcast conversation between Sen. Romney and UtahPolicy.com Managing Editor Bryan Schott below. They discuss the shutdown, Romney’s vote to lift sanctions on a company formerly owned by a Russian oligarch and how he’s adjusting to life in the Senate in his first few weeks in office.
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