Government shutdown fails to shut down Muller's team

It never occurred to me that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation might be one of the things that Trump wanted to shut down, along with the rest of the U.S. government, but if Muller was meant to be the target of the shutdown, or even collateral damage, then Trump's fecklessness has (once again) led to failure. As reported by HuffPost:

Congress was unable to pass a spending bill late Friday night, shutting down everything but what is considered the “essential” parts of the federal government. Social Security checks are still being processed, the military is still working (although troops won’t get paid until afterward) and air traffic controllers are still helping keep the skies clear.

Meanwhile, much of the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop ― right at the height of the flu season ― and about 800,000 federal employees will be furloughed until Congress resolves the issue.

And one thing that is still going: Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

The Justice Department confirmed this week that employees in Mueller’s office are exempt from the shutdown and can continue their work. His office is not funded through the regular congressional appropriations process.

So the probe, which Trump desperately wants shut down, is going on even as other government functions cease.

I'd describe this as an ironic outcome, except that we're well past that point by now. Regardless, the result is that the Muller investigation will continue to drive the agenda, while all other aspects of the Trump agenda are put on hold. And with the GOP in control of both houses of Congress, and the Presidency, there's not much doubt who's to blame for the shutdown, either.

It probably won't have an enormous impact on the upcoming midterms, but people who care about functioning government should be thinking long and hard about whether Republicans are capable of governing the country at all, whatever you think about their ideological agenda. That burgeoning Democratic wave that Republicans were worried about is looking more and more likely all the time.

GG, GOP! Keep up the good work!