Treasury chief Mnuchin: At times, a government shutdown could be ‘good’

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agrees with President Donald Trump that there could be such a thing as a “good” government shutdown.

Mnuchin told the Senate Budget Committee that “at times there could be a good shutdown,” though he added it’s not the administration’s “primary objective.”

The remarks were unusual because as Treasury secretary, Mnuchin is the official responsible for the full faith and credit of the United States.

After Democrats last month blocked funding for Trump’s oft-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the president tweeted that “our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”

The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017

either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good "shutdown" in September to fix mess!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2017

Mnuchin seemed to agree a shutdown shakeup of Washington could produce positive results. He added that “we would never shut down critical functions of the government.”