It's no secret that Republicans and democrats can't seem to get on the same page. Following the election of Donald Trump, the political division in Washington D.C. has found a way to get even worse.
Trump on Twitter
During the eight years that former President Barack Obama was in office, the Republican Party made a habit of obstructing nearly all of the major pieces of legislation that the Democrats attempted to pass through Congress. The tension reached a fever pitch back in 2012 when Republicans, largely led by Sen. Ted Cruz and the Tea Party, refused to compromise with their Democratic counterparts on a spending bill and the United States government was partly shutdown as a result.
A deal was later reached, but ultimately reflected negativity on the entire political process and those involved for letting partisan politics get in the way of running the country. Fast forward to present day with Donald Trump now in office and that division between the left and right is only widening by the day. After Congress reached a short-term spending bill to fund the government until the fall, Trump lashed out on Twitter on May 2 in an aggressive attack on Democrats.
The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
Taking to his Twitter account on Tuesday morning was Donald Trump and the president didn't seem too pleased with what was going on in Congress.
"The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there!" Trump tweeted out.
either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good "shutdown" in September to fix mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017
In a follow-up message on Twitter, Donald Trump then called for a government shutdown later this year.
"We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%," Trump tweeted, while demanding, "Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!"
Moving forward
While Donald Trump is openly calling for a government, or "country" shutdown, it's not likely going to go over well with the American people.
The last time the government was shutdown, Congress managed to watch its approval rating drop even lower than it was. For the former host of "The Apprentice," he can't afford to have his poll numbers drop, as he is currently sitting on just a 40 percent favorable rating, which is the lowest number for a president's first 100 days in office in the last 70 years. Unless Trump and the Republican Party can find a way to reach a deal with the Democrats, it's almost certainly going to be a tough road ahead in Washington over the next six months.