McConnell warns: It would be “politically more than stupid” to paralyze the government before the elections

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) said Tuesday that it was in his party's best interest to avoid a government shutdown, adding that it would be “politically beyond foolish” for Republicans to take that path before the presidential election.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House would vote on Wednesday on a government funding resolution linked to an election fraud bill that appears doomed to fail.

Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, McConnell warned that his party would be held accountable if the government shutdown occurred and suggested that Republicans could face a backlash from voters in November.

“My only observation on this whole discussion is that there can be no government shutdown,” he said. “It would be politically beyond stupid if we did that just before the elections, because we would certainly get blamed.”

“I am in favour of anything that prevents a government shutdown, and this will obviously ultimately become a discussion between the [Senate] Democratic Leader and Speaker of the House of Representatives,” McConnell continued.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged Johnson to drop his plan to hold a vote on the two measures this week, even though the Louisiana Republican says he is unwilling to discuss alternatives to keep the government running beyond Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends.

“The only thing we're going to accomplish is make it clear that it's a dead end. We need a bipartisan – a bipartisan – plan instead,” Schumer said.

Johnson had originally attempted to hold a vote last week on the six-month continuation resolution in conjunction with the SAVE Act, which includes a provision requiring voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, but he had to postpone the vote due to bipartisan opposition.

Given Republicans' slim majority in the House, Johnson could only afford to lose a handful of GOP votes without having to rely on Democrats to pass the package. At least one Democrat has so far signaled he would support it. Many hard-line Republicans have opposed the funding bill on the grounds that it does not go far enough in terms of federal spending cuts.

Johnson's insistence on passing the anti-election fraud bill has drawn criticism as it appears to be an attempt to appease former President Donald Trump, who baselessly claims there is widespread fraud in US elections despite no evidence to support this.

The Republican presidential candidate called on Republicans to shut down the government if no agreement could be reached on linking the SAVE Act to the funding bill.