During an interview that aired on Birmingham's WXJC radio's "Priority Talk," U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) weighed in on next week's probable federal government shutdown.
If Congress is unable to reach a last-minute compromise by Tuesday night, the government will shut down.
Aderholt, a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, told "Priority Talk" host Greg Davis that he was unsure how long the shutdown would last, but put the odds at 90%.
"The essentials will come into place, but they will not be paid until the government goes back into session — or I'm sorry, the government gets an agreement. So even though we go back into session, it doesn't mean anything if we don't get an agreement. So next Wednesday will be the day that everybody will be watching to find out where we go from here. I think right now, a lot of people have asked me all day, 'What do you think, what's your percentage of the government's going to shut down?' I think it's about a 90% chance. Now, it may be for 24 hours, it might be for 24 days, I don't know. But, obviously, the thing about it is, we still have to have a military, but our soldiers won't be able to be paid. And obviously, the essential government functions will have to continue. But a lot of those people will have to go to work, knowing that they will be paid at some point, but they will be on their regular pay period because the government will not be functioning."
Aderholt anticipated that, despite efforts by Democrats to blame Republicans, the American public would recognize that the U.S. Senate would be unable to obtain the 60 votes required due to Democrat intransigence.
"The Democrats will say the Republicans control the House," Aderholt explained. "They control the Senate. They control the presidency. Well, that's easy to say that, but if you really look in the House, that's true. We control — we can get the votes in the House, and we did. The president is, obviously, we have. Trump is in the White House. The Senate is different. The Senate, you have to have 60 votes to govern because of the filibuster rule. So therefore, — there's only 53 Republicans in the United States. So will the American people understand that it's because there's well, maybe one Democrat that will work, that will play ball."
"The thing that's different this time is we have Trump on our side. And he has a bully pulpit and he's able to speak loud and clear. And I think most people understand that he speaks his mind. And so that I think is going to give us an advantage if we do go to a shutdown."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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