U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl is hopeful Congress will be able to avoid a government shutdown Oct. 1, but admitted that some in his own party are making it harder to get something passed before the deadline.
Friday on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” Carl (R-Mobile) discussed the upcoming fight over funding the government.
“Well there’s always hope,” Carl said. “We might do a CR, a continuing resolution. That’s not playing out with some of our Republican friends. I truly think that they want it shut down in some instances, but I’m holding out and trying to be positive about it.”
The congressman was referring to some in the House Freedom Caucus who have already stated they will not support a CR because it won’t cut spending.
“Well the Freedom Caucus understands that they control a handful of votes and we need that handful of votes,” he said. “We only have about a four-vote margin of Republicans versus Democrats, so they understand they hold that margin.”
Carl said he doesn’t have any issues with the Freedom Caucus, but also doesn’t want a government shutdown.
“They’ve come up with some good stuff, I’ll be fair with them,” he said. “Everything that they’ve asked for to be done, I don’t disagree with at all. We’re at a point now though where I think we truly need to work behind closed doors and get things worked out and not get on the floor and argue about it.
“That’s where I’ll start differing.”
Carl also pointed out the other major obstacle to avoiding a shutdown, that being the Democra-controlled Senate.
“[T]he Senate is a crapshoot,” he said. “Last year, we kept getting CRs from them and we went right up to Christmas Eve, and I got real close to spending Christmas Eve in the Atlanta airport. They call it D.C. Everybody thinks that means the District of Columbia, but in reality I think it stands for drama central.
“These politicians love the drama, waiting for the last minute trying to get something pushed through.”
Despite the current challenges in the process, the congressman believes they can get something done because the American people don’t want a government shutdown.
“I’m positive in that I hope that … giving us a little time to hear from our constituents, nobody wants a shutdown,” he said. “We don’t need the government shutdown. We don’t need simple things in our lives that are very complicated things in other people’s lives to be shut down. You look at payrolls, you look at disruptions in people’s lives, that’s not fair.
“We’re all grown adults on that floor. You’d think we could get together and come up with a solution. But we’ll see. We’re ready for it.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
