Dem Senator: No Gov’t Shutdown Has Occurred When One Party Controls Congress And WH (Narrator Voice: That’s False)

Matt Vespa | January 20, 2018 12:00 PM

Oh, I see we have another talking point coming from Senate Democrats: never in the history of this country has a shutdown occurred when one party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. Uh, that’s not true. I know for some Democrats history began when Obama was elected president, but Jimmy Carter controlled both Houses during his presidency and government still shut down. It was over various projects in the defense bill, including funding for a nuclear powered aircraft carrier (via USA Today):

Never before in the history of this nation has the government been shut down with one party in control of both Congress and the Presidency. Never.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 19, 2018

Democrat Jimmy Carter was president, and his party held majorities in both the House and the Senate. Yet the Democrats’ solid grip on government was not enough to avert a government shutdown.
The standoff escalated when Carter vetoed a defense bill that included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and public works legislation that included funding for various water projects. Carter considered those projects wasteful spending. On top of that, funding for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare was delayed because of a dispute involving Medicaid funding for abortion.

Right now, the government is shut down. Democrats want a deal on immigration; Republicans say they will get something done before the DACA enforcement delay expires in March. In all, the point is the Left got what they wanted in this spending bill. They’re just mad about the order in which they’re being tackled.That’s not a reason to shut down the government. Leader McConnell plans to submit an amendment to fund the government through February 8 tomorrow.