Gowdy Warns GOPs to Not Take the Shutdown 'Bait'

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Republicans need to be careful to not “take the bait” with a dramatic response to President Obama’s immigration executive action.

Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) are holding a noontime press conference with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has been urging House conservatives to force a shutdown if lawmakers refuse to defund Obama’s immigration programs.

Gowdy noted this morning “the House is debating right now how to respond to it.” Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wants to pass long-term funding for all departments except Homeland Security, which would receive funding until the spring and give a GOP-majority Senate and House the chance to tackle immigration funding in the 114th Congress.

“I think it’s careful that we not take the bait. You know, what the president wants us to do is to over-respond so our public approval ratings are as low as his,” Gowdy told Fox.

“My personal preference in terms of strategies is for the Senate to use advice and consent,” he continued. “You just spoke about ambassadors who can’t find the country they’re going to on a globe. That’d be a great place to start, where John McCain said, ‘You know what, Mr. President? You want to act like an emperor? We’re going to do our job and not confer advice and consent and not approve some of your nominees.’ That is where I would start if I were calling the shots, but I’m not.”

Gowdy said he would go after both nominations and funding, but “the funding gets into a shutdown debate, which we, historically, have never won.”

“The advice and consent, I think most of my fellow citizens want legitimate, serious ambassadors going to foreign countries. We want good judges. We want good cabinet level officials,” he said. “So I think with respect to advice and consent, my fellow citizens would be on our side.”

McCain told Fox yesterday that he doesn’t expect a government shutdown.

“I do not expect that because I just don’t think most of us believe that that’s a viable option,” the senator said. “We need to rifle-shot these programs to keep from a government shutdown. As far as the other aspect of it, no, we shouldn’t shut down the government. But at the same time, there are certain things that we just shouldn’t compromise on either. So it’s — very tough decisions are going to be made in the next few days.”

“I am absolutely convinced that our lesson from this last election that they want us to govern — and we will govern and we’ll have a positive agenda. And if the president wants to veto the results of that positive agenda, he can. But we will be coming forward with progressive and productive legislation to send to the president of the United State and that way we can elect a Republican president in 2016.”