Karl Rove: GOP will ‘shoot themselves in the foot’ with shutdown

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove warned House Republicans that they will only hurt themselves if they allow the government to shut down this fall amid budget battles within their conference and with the Senate and White House.

“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 in a Fox News interview Sunday.

Without a new deal, the government will shut down Oct. 1. A shutdown seen as increasingly likely despite a debt ceiling deal earlier this year that set spending caps for the fiscal year.

A number of House Republicans are unhappy with that agreement and are now pushing for deeper cuts. But they have limited leverage with a Democratic majority Senate and with President Biden in the White House.

Democrats, who have generally benefitted politically from shutdowns driven by GOP demands for spending cuts, are already beginning to blame Republicans for the possibility of a shutdown.

And Rove signaled he believes there is real danger for the GOP.

He said that Republicans usually seem to be blamed for government shutdowns because “Republicans are responsible for the shutdowns.”

“They seem to eagerly want them,” he added.

House Republicans have already struggled to pass rule votes related to appropriations, including over a defense spending bill this week. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Republicans will get no help from his caucus.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans temporarily hold the gavels; the extreme MAGA Republicans are responsible for passing the rule,” Jeffries said Thursday.

Rule votes are generally party line, and the GOP majority would normally be expected to approve its own rules, without help from the minority. This would also be true of a Democratic majority.