Sen. Joe Manchin, who’s leaving office next month, is predicting there won’t be a government shutdown, despite the uncertainty over a bill in the day before the deadline. He says whatever agreement House Republicans reach to fund the government, the Senate will “swallow hard,” support it and go home for the holidays.
However, he doesn’t think Congress will comply with President-elect Donald Trump’s last-minute demand to suspend or eliminate the debt ceiling, the federal borrowing limit. Trump called on Republicans to reject the bill offered by GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson because the 1,500-page spending bill does far more than simply extending government funding. It also includes disaster aid, health care policy extenders and a pay raise for members of Congress, among other provisions.
Manchin, the independent senior senator from West Virginia, spoke with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” as the federal government faces a potential government shutdown just before Manchin’s departure from office. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, won the U.S. Senate race and will take Manchin’s seat in January, after Manchin opted not to run for reelection in his heavily Republican state.
Asked by Brennan if he thinks there will be a shutdown, Manchin responded, “No, I don’t.” Manchin said the Senate will “pretty much” have to swallow whatever the House ultimately does.
“Pretty much, you’re in a situation now, they just want to get out of here and not let the government shut down and live to fight another day,” Manchin said. “I can see what’s coming now. So my vote, or anybody’s vote, right now, I think they’re going to come to an agreement. They’ll swallow hard, say, ‘Let’s go home for Christmas.’ That’s what’s going to happen.”
“Pretty much whatever it is right now, no matter what they have to do to skinny it down, they’re not going to fight,” he added. “There’s not much fight left.”
A bill to temporarily fund the government, known as a continuing resolution, was expected to pass with bipartisan support, but it suddenly fell apart Wednesday, as Trump ally Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, attacked it on X, while Trump expressed his own frustrations about the measure. If Congress doesn’t pass legislation before late Friday, many government functions will halt, federal workers won’t be paid, and holiday travelers could face longer security lines at airports.
But Manchin doesn’t think Trump will get his wish to do away with the debt ceiling. Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend or eliminate entirely the federal debt ceiling, as a part of any government spending deal, and before he gets into office and Republicans have full control of Congress in January.
“That won’t happen,” Manchin said, adding that he didn’t think Democrats would go along with the idea right now. “You have to have bipartisanship here,” he said.
Brennan noted that suspending or eliminating the limit on federal borrowing would require 60 votes in the Senate.
“You’ve got 51 Democrats right now,” Manchin said. “So, if you had all 49 Republicans, you’ll need 11 Democrats to raise that debt ceiling. I just don’t see getting the votes to do that.”
