Press Staff Blog

Republicans’ shutdown saga continues today with no clear plan from GOP leaders on how they will avert a shutdown their Members are threatening. Be on the look-out for recap emails from us every day until Republicans show they are ready to govern responsibly and keep the government funded. Here’s today’s look at how their reckless behavior is playing out, as well as some helpful reminders that we hope will inspire them to work with us to keep the government open:

Headlines of the Day:

A look at this week’s headlines might look familiar – that’s because they are. As Republicans continue to threaten yet another reckless government shutdown, we’re reminded of their resolute record of governing by crisis. Here’s a quick recap of the GOP’s “Government Shutdown Redux” and a reminder for the GOP that their shutdown strategy hasn’t worked out so well in the past:

SEPTEMBER 2015

If for some reason you needed a reminder of Republicans’ govern-by-crisis approach, record of dysfunction, and their deep internal divisions, here is a nice recap, courtesy of Politico:

“The GOP Congress is likely to dispense with the highway issue in the next few days and skip town for a long summer break. But it won’t be any easier when lawmakers return — far from it.”

Yesterday, Speaker Boehner announced that today would be the last day of votes before the House adjourns for the August District Work Period. In their haste to leave town, House Republican leaders have clearly decided not to reopen the Export-Import Bank, even though it enjoys majority support in both chambers and plays a critical role in helping ensure American small businesses are competing on a level playing field with global competitors. From the WSJ:

Following months of inaction to keep the Export-Import Bank open, House Republicans have decided to shut down the Bank tomorrow, June 30, putting thousands of American jobs at risk. We wanted to make sure you saw today’s blog post in The Hill by senior vice president of International Policy for the U.S.

ICYMI, yesterday House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about a number of issues, including reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.  Unfortunately, his discussion of the Bank was littered with inaccuracies, so we thought we’d be helpful and offer an annotated version (with important things called “facts”) here:

In case you missed colloquy today, Leader McCarthy confirmed three times that House GOP leaders have no plans to allow a vote to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. From the Hill:

Today’s quote of the day is brought to you by Senator Lindsey Graham, who continues to remind his GOP colleagues why the Export-Import Bank is critical to America’s competiveness: