'Wholly irrational': Columnist says GOP shutdown 'love affair' sets them up for failure

After days of upheaval following tech billionaire Elon Musk strong-arming the House GOP into killing a bipartisan budget agreement and setting the stage for a government shutdown, a compromise was salvaged at the last minute with the passage of a slightly pared-down spending agreement — with the backing of House Democrats.

But the GOP's troubles are far from over, columnist Megan McArdle wrote for The Washington Post.

That's because this is merely the latest episode that proves Republicans have an ongoing "love affair" with shutdowns, both actual and threatened, she wrote — and it could both wreck what goodwill they have with the electorate and tank the Trump presidency.

"As with all great loves, their fervor is wholly irrational," wrote McArdle. "Shutdowns annoy voters, who tend to blame Republicans for that annoyance. Nor does it save any appreciable amount of money, because the major entitlement programs keep rolling out checks, and the furloughed federal workers eventually collect back pay for the time they spent twiddling their thumbs. As for using a shutdown as a political bargaining chip … well, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) told reporters last year, 'They never have produced a policy change, and they’ve always been a loser for Republicans politically.'"

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The fundamental problem, she continued, is that Republicans are too obsessed with punishing Democrats to score any true victories for themselves.

In other words, "In the game of politics, it is not enough for your enemies to lose. You actually have to win." Indeed, she argued, this is a more general problem the GOP has — they don't stand for anything, they only stand against things.

"What is the core of Donald Trump’s appeal to his base? That he owns the libs and refuses to kowtow to progressive pieties. What is his most prominent economic policy? Tariffs that represent a big fat 'no' to global trade. What was the most successful political ad campaign of the 2024 campaign? The infamous 'they/them' ads that painted Vice President Kamala Harris as a freak who wants to provide government-funded transition surgeries to transgender prisoners."

But just saying "no" to everything doesn't solve any of America's real problems, McArdle continued: "Saying 'no' to abortion won’t undo the cultural and economic forces that have made it hard for young people to form healthy, fertile families. Saying 'no' to immigration won’t end our housing crisis if you are also deporting construction workers who build new homes. Saying 'no' to trade won’t magically bring back the old manufacturing economy that so many Republicans long for."

The bottom line, McArdle concluded, is that if Republicans "want to keep the new-won affections of the American voter, they need to ditch their destructive ex."