House Republicans Won’t Call Members Back From Recess if the Government Shuts Down

If the government shuts down, House Republican leadership has no plans to call members back from recess to negotiate a reopening. Instead, they will try to make Senate Democrats swallow their bill, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

“Why would we negotiate against ourselves and bring people back?” one senior GOP aide told NOTUS.

House Republicans passed their government funding measure on Tuesday and left town with a preplanned recess slated for next week. The bill, which received just one Democratic vote in the House, needs the support of eight Democrats in the Senate to clear the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold. (Though there are 53 Republicans in the Senate, GOP Sen. Rand Paul has already come out against the legislation.)

By leaving town, the House effectively jammed the Senate, leaving senators with no other options than to pass the GOP bill or let the government shut down. If it’s the latter, the House has no plans to cut recess short and return to vote on a different, separate bill, four sources with knowledge of the matter told NOTUS.

Senate Democrats hinted earlier today they may be open to voting for cloture if they get amendments that would allow them to vote on a shorter, 30-day funding bill. Senate Republican leadership said they would consider it.

“If they want to vote on that in exchange for getting us the votes to pass to Sept. 30, I think we’re open to that,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday morning. “But as you all know, the House is gone. So whatever happens is going to have to be the final action.”

—
Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.