GOP Rep Cole: ‘I Don’t Think We’ll Have a Shutdown’

Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) downplayed the possibility of a government shutdown as the deadline to pass a measure to fund the federal government approaches.

Cole told host Joe Scarborough with the 60-vote rule in the U.S. Senate, the effort to prevent a shutdown must be bipartisan and therefore trying to impose the majority party’s will for a partisan victory would fail.

“You know, I don’t think we’ll have a shutdown,” he said. “There’s certainly a chance we could a have a short-term continuing resolution, but we’re within striking distance of getting this done. I hope we do get it done. If you leave it to the appropriators we will get it done. The real question is whether or not outside groups in the extremes are both caucus. You know, we’ll use the last minute to try and tack things on that make it extremely difficult to have bipartisan cooperation. In the end, to fund the government because of the 60-rule requirement in the United States Senate you really do have to have bipartisan cooperation. So, if anybody doesn’t realize that and tries to, you know, impose a 100 percent partisan victory it’s going to fail.”

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