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House GOP retreat postponed amid government shutdown

The Congressional Institute announced Wednesday it will postpone the three-day event

House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney is seen before the start of a news conference on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney is seen before the start of a news conference on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

House Republicans’ annual retreat has become the latest victim of the partial government shutdown.

House Republicans had been scheduled to hold their retreat Jan. 30 through Feb. 1 at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. But the Congressional Institute announced Wednesday it will postpone the three-day event. 

“Since the government is shut down, we and Republican Leadership agree that Members of Congress should be in Washington, DC, negotiating a path that gets our federal workforce back on the job,” Congressional Institute President Mark Strand said in a statement. 

“We look forward to rescheduling this important conference later in the year once this budget impasse has ended, and the federal government is back serving our citizens,” Strand added.

Also watch: Steve King: ‘I want to ask my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, let’s vote for this resolution’

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House Republicans, now in the minority party, were going to be on retreat by themselves this year. In recent years they held joint retreats with Senate Republicans because both conferences were in the majority.

This year Senate Republicans held a one-day, off-site retreat last week that was closed to the press.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries suggested Wednesday, as House Republicans’ announced their annual retreat would be postponed due to the government shutdown, that his caucus has not yet thought about doing that.

“We’re hoping to reopen the government well in advance of having to contemplate that question,” the New York Democrat said.

House Democrats are scheduled to hold their retreat Feb. 13-15 in Leesburg, Va.

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