SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A government shutdown looks likely after Senate Republicans and Democrats blocked each other's plans on Friday to keep the government open beyond the end of this month. Comes as many Republicans, including President Trump and Vice President Vance, prepare to travel to Arizona for Charlie Kirk's memorial service tomorrow. NPR senior political contributor Ron Elving joins us. Ron, thanks so much for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: And we'll turn quite soon to the developments and divisions following the Charlie Kirk assassination. But let's begin with the basic question of funding the government. Can the Congress do it?
ELVING: At this moment, a shutdown is the default scenario for the end of this month. The House has passed a stopgap spending measure and gone on recess until October. The Senate tried to match that measure yesterday, but it needed 60 votes, which meant it needed some Democrats to go along, and just one did. Most of the Democrats stood firm against this bill, which they say will be a disaster for people on Obamacare or Medicaid or relying on rural hospitals. So the stopgap failed. And unless the Senate can gather itself again and find a way forward, how the fiscal year will end in 10 days without a new set of directives for spending, and much of the government will shut down.
SIMON: Country, of course, is deeply divided. Divisions appear to have been hardened in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. What stood out to you this week?
ELVING: The divisions and the depths of those divisions, Scott - it's not just right and left, Republican, Democrat. We're in an attitude of grievance, reactions of outrage. It's becoming all too familiar. A large portion of the country is enraged about the killing of Charlie Kirk and another about the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel. And a third group is wondering why these two events are tearing the country apart. There are millions of Americans who don't live to argue on social media. They don't want to be at odds with their neighbors. And polls show the national mood in the wake of recent events is plummeting, and that's all across the political spectrum.
SIMON: President Trump applauded ABC's decision to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely after he made comments after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The president also said federal regulators ought to consider revoking licenses of other broadcasters who have reported or said things he believes to be critical of him. Presidents of both parties have groused about what they consider to be unfair reporting and ridicule, but have we ever seen anything like this before?
ELVING: We have seen presidents sue newspapers before. They have not had much luck with that, and Trump has not either, at least so far. We have also heard president's rail against the broadcast media. Richard Nixon, in particular, battled the press and the TV news. He looked for ways he could withdraw broadcast licenses owned by newspapers he considered hostile, such as The Washington Post. But, of course, for every story of a brave newsroom standing up to bullying, there are many more we never hear about how newsrooms have been intimidated or constrained. And in the contemporary media landscape, where we live today, with this fragmentation, it's getting harder and harder to control the narrative for anyone, especially if it's driven by individuals on social media.
SIMON: And now new rules for reporters at the Pentagon.
ELVING: Yeah. We're being told by a U.S. official not authorized to speak - told Tom Bowman, or NPR, that the Pentagon will require journalists to pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified, that hasn't been authorized for release.
SIMON: And tomorrow, the memorial service for Charlie Kirk. What do you think we can expect?
ELVING: In a democracy, people of all political sympathies are entitled to express those feelings and most especially to grieve their fallen heroes. For Charlie Kirk's supporters, it will be an occasion for their sense of righteous anger and is likely to fuel their determination to pursue Kirk's ideas and agenda and will also be an occasion for other prominent figures to identify with Kirk and try to capture some of what he had, his message and his following as well.
SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks so much.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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