Republican leaders seek to calm shutdown worries

Senate Republican leaders are telling rank-and-file members that they will avert a partial government shutdown in early December, acknowledging that failing to do so would be a political liability for the GOP.

Republican senators warned Vice President Pence at a lunch meeting Tuesday that a shutdown, even a partial one, would be a mistake.

“The vice president was around chatting with people afterward and before, and I think that message was pretty clearly conveyed,” said Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (S.D.). “We don’t see anything good coming out of a shutdown.”

There’s a growing sense within the GOP that they will get blamed for any shutdown over border security.

“I don’t think there’s the stomach for a shutdown,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), adding that she is certain Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “is reinforcing that to the president.”