‘Shutting down government is stupidity on steroids,’ Senator Warner says

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A growing number of Republican lawmakers say they’d support using a government shutdown as a negotiating tactic.

“Shutting down government is stupidity on steroids, And no state is hurt more by a government shutdown than Virginia,” U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D) said Thursday, January 11.

The U.S. is currently operating under a two-part funding plan that expires January 19 and February 2. Some conservatives believe letting the clock run out could pressure Democrats into more spending cuts.

“We divided the the federal budget into two tranches of agencies: The first half of the budget we need to get done by January 19, and the second half by February 2,” U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D) said. “Speaker Johnson voted for the deal when it was up before us in May, but the question has been whether the new House leadership would back out of that deal.”

The senators say a shutdown would be hard on the commonwealth.

“We have so many federal employees, we have so many defense installations,” Sen. Warner said. “If you suddenly have shutdowns, all the kind of government services you’re used to are put put on hold or much reduced in terms of presence.”

Johnson says he is optimistic the deadlines can be met.

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