November 12, 2014 10:57 AM UTC

In classic dodge, Gardner refuses to take government shutdown off the table

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Joke's on you – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Warning to Washington DC reporters: Here comes Senator-elect Cory Gardner! Gardner tried to slither past Colorado reporters by answering questions with falsehoods (See personhood.) or responding to queries with predictions about the future, instead of answers to the actual questions (See immigration.).

Now Gardner is trotting out his trademark "answer-a-question-by-saying-two-things-at-once" for Washington journalists and getting away with it!

Asked by ABC's “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos Sunday if Gardner's promise to be serious about governing means "taking things like shutting down the government off the table," Gardner replied:

"The government shutdown is a bad idea anytime, anywhere."

Translation: I won't answer your question because I don't want to rule out a government shutdown, but I want to make reporters think I won't vote to shut down the government (winky, wink to the Tea Party).

If you're thinking, give me a break, Republicans like Gardner won't shut down the government again, you should read Sen. Jeff Sessions' not-so-veiled threat to shut down the government to prevent Obama from stopping the deportation of some immigrants, as he's apparently planning to do this year. Talking Points Memo's Sahil Kapur reports in a piece titled "Top GOP Senator Hints at Government Shutdown Fight over Immigration:"

In an op-ed Monday for Politico magazine, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), currently ranking member of the committee, said it would be "unthinkable" for Congress to pass a long-term spending bill that doesn't block funding for Obama's expected actions to free some immigrants from the threat of deportation.

"President Obama’s executive amnesty … cannot be implemented if Congress simply includes routine language on any government funding bill prohibiting the expenditure of funds for this unlawful purpose," wrote Sessions, a longtime foe of immigration reform.

This strategy is similar to the one that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) persuaded Republicans to adopt in 2013 in a quest to defund Obamacare. It did not work: Obama held firm, the government shut down, and 16 days later Republicans backed down and agreed to fund Obamacare along with the rest of the federal government.

So, yes, shutting down the government again sounds crazy, but it's still on the table, with the apparent blessing of Gardner.