Republican freshmen urge House to avoid government shutdown

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Politics | Wed Sep 23, 2015 5:11pm EDT

Republican freshmen urge House to avoid government shutdown

WASHINGTON | BY DAVID LAWDER

Eleven first-term Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday appealed to party colleagues to back away from a threatened government closure on Oct. 1, citing concerns about the political and economic costs of such an action.

The 11 freshmen, who are not aligned with the party's far-right Tea Party faction pushing for a shutdown, wrote an open letter to other Republicans urging support for a budget patch that would avert a shutdown, at least for a few weeks.

"We are writing today to express our strong support for a funding resolution that will avoid another unnecessary and harmful government shutdown," said Ryan Costello, Elise Stefanik, Mimi Walters and eight other signers of the letter.

Congress is close to the brink of another possible shutdown because conservative House Republicans have vowed not to support any federal spending plan that provides continued taxpayer support for Planned Parenthood, the women's healthcare group.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/23/us-usa-fiscal-idUSKCN0RN24L20150923

[MohRokTah]

1. They were elected in a non-presidential year, always good for Republicans.

They fear job loss come next year's election.