Republicans are ‘going to shoot themselves in the foot’ over looming shutdown: Karl Rove

Former White House chief of staff Karl Rove urged Republicans to pass a federal budget ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline as hard-line GOP members remain in a standoff over spending.

“Republicans are going to shoot themselves in the foot in the run-up to the 2024 election if they continue to think that shutdowns are a great way to put themselves in front of the American people,” Rove said during an interview on Fox News Sunday.

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Congress has yet to pass any appropriations bills, with the new federal fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. Rove scaled down the arguments dividing the lower chamber, saying, “We’re talking about the difference between this and that” for things that are “on the margin.”

GOP tensions rose last week when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) threatened to file a “motion to vacate” against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in an effort to negotiate appropriations legislation.

House Republicans are disputing each other while battling the Senate and the Biden administration to pass new spending bills on their terms, with the leadership showdown adding to the chaos.

President Joe Biden is already attacking Republicans over proposed spending cuts that could cause a government shutdown, criticizing their extreme “MAGAnomics” plan during a speech at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland on Thursday.

Rove said, “There’s a reason why they get blamed,” speaking on the Republican Party historically being blamed for the government shutdowns, adding, “They seem to eagerly want them.

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Rove criticized the idea of the United States government not passing a budget in time, saying that the “American people demand that their government try to run itself in an appropriate fashion.”

“The fact that the biggest financial and business enterprise in the world, the U.S. government, cannot pass a budget in time and then ends up shutting itself down over things that are on the margin,” Rove said.