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Senate Republicans oppose rule change to try to end shutdown: spokesman

The figures of Grief and History stand on top of the Peace Statue near the U.S. Capitol after President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress failed to reach a deal on funding for federal agencies in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2018.      REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
The figures of Grief and History stand on top of the Peace Statue near the U.S. Capitol after President Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress failed to reach a deal on funding for federal agencies in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans oppose changing the chamber's rules so that legislation to fund the government and end the current shutdown could pass with a simple majority, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.

The spokesman was responding to a question about President Donald Trump's comment on Twitter that if the shutdown stalemate continued, Republicans should fund the government by changing Senate rules that currently require a super-majority for appropriations bills to pass. Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate.

"The Republican Conference opposes changing the rules on legislation," the spokesman for McConnell said in an email.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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