Justin Papp at Roll Call:
“A shutdown distracts from a lot of things, and could clearly distract from a mission like trying to dial down the rhetoric,” said Rodney Davis, an Illinois Republican who joined more than 100 other former members of Congress last year in urging elected officials to rein in the vitriol. “Shutdowns of the past didn’t cause the heated political rhetoric. But frankly, it just adds to the constant barrage of news where Republicans and Democrats seemingly can’t get along.”
It also comes amid a new spate of concerning incidents. In a series of texts sent in 2022 and surfaced this month by National Review, Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general, mused about shooting the state’s then-House speaker. And last week, an Arizona Republican state lawmaker seemed to call for the execution of Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal over comments she made urging nonviolent resistance to President Donald Trump.
According to Jayapal, who has been a frequent target of threats and had an armed man show up outside her Seattle home in 2022, a shutdown may bring heightened interparty tensions. But it doesn’t drastically change her reality.
“I’m on high alert all the time,” Jayapal said. “I have increased security, and when I get into enclosed spaces like an airplane, I’m looking at everybody. I’m assessing my safety at all times and the safety of my staff, my team.”