There are strong worries across Washington DC that President Trump may try to purposely shut down the government to stop the Impeachment inquiry.

On Tuesday Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters:

“I’m increasingly worried that President Trump will want to shut down the government again because of impeachment.”

“He always likes to create diversions. I hope and pray he won’t want to cause another government shutdown because it might be a diversion away from impeachment.”

Why this matters

Without action, the government will shut down November 22nd. Both Houses need to pass a bill to continue the functioning of the government and it has to be signed by the President.

But there are fears Trump might hold the Impeachment inquiry hostage and threaten to shut down the government.

A shutdown would disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of Federal workers and stop the functioning of vital operations.

Republicans say the government will not shut down, but they also said that in December when Trump led the longest government shutdown in history because Democrats wouldn’t fund his border wall.