releases: https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-hits-it-down-the-middle-icymi
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-hits-it-down-the-middle-icymi | Donnelly Hits it Down the Middle: ICYMI | 2013-10-31 | 2013 | 2013-10 | Democrat | House | IN | Joe Donnelly | D000607 | www.donnelly.senate.gov | legacy | Donnelly Hits it Down the Middle: ICYMI Coverage of his Role in Helping End Government Shutdown Thursday, October 31, 2013 Washington, D.C.—Senator Joe Donnelly was a member of the group of 14 senators that helped end the government shutdown and prevented further harm to our economy. In case you missed it, below is a sampling of coverage of his work and the larger efforts of the bipartisan group. “Although things haven’t gotten any better since the 2012 elections, the good news is that the past 12 months have made clear that Indiana got it right when it elected Sen. Joe Donnelly as its junior senator. If you’re fed up with Washington’s mess, that’s understandable. If you think Congress is one of the nation’s biggest sources of trouble, you’re in the majority. But Joe Donnelly, it should be noted, isn’t part of the problem. … “As we talked last week, the first-year senator said his work in the group of 14 Senate moderates, which advocated for a bipartisan and balanced deal to end the shutdown, one that would pave the wave for long-term budget talks, ‘showed that party had nothing to do with’ his thinking. To conservative critics who say he supports his party too blindly, he said: ‘I don’t know what else I can do but continue to hit it straight down the middle.’” -Matt Tully: Joe Donnelly tries to 'hit it straight down the middle’ (Indianapolis Star) “The good news is that the Senate group who hatched this plan shows wonderful promise. Fourteen senators from both parties worked day and night this week to figure a way forward, and it was their plan — more than public frustration or even the efforts of President Barack Obama — that is expected to defuse the impasse in the House. As of Wednesday afternoon, nothing has been voted on, but predictions are that this will be the deal that sticks. … “The bipartisan Senate group retreated from the noise, worked together and came up with a plan that was acceptable to leadership on both sides. It corners Boehner and reasserts tea party rage as a minority concern: loud but subordinate to the primacy of governing and responsibly managing the nation’s debt payments.” - Stephen Henderson: “The shutdown is over, but our crisis in government is not” (Detroit Free Press) “There’s been a lot thrown at Donnelly and his Capitol Hill colleagues in recent weeks, too — mainly derision from a disgusted American public. But Donnelly emerged as one of the cooler heads, as one of 14 senators in the middle of a deal credited with helping to end the 16-day federal government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis.” -Dave Bangert: Sen. Donnelly on shutdown chances, health care pain and a Purdue QB (Lafayette Journal and Courier) “After a couple of Hoosier members of the House tea party contingent uttered strange comments that became late night talk show punchlines in the past two weeks, it was refreshing to see a different Indiana congressman, Sen. Joe Donnelly, among those 14 lawmakers involved in those behind-the-scenes, bipartisan talks. Like other participants, Donnelly, a centrist Democrat and a freshman senator, had to compromise. … “’The easiest thing in the world is to be the loudest person in the Senate, the loudest person in the House, the person getting the most attention. But that doesn’t get anything done,’ Donnelly told the media. ‘What gets things done is the relationships you have to work together to make our nation stronger. And you had 14 people in a room who trusted one another, who knew they could trust each other’s word, and who knew that their only goals were to try to make this nation stronger.’” -Mark Bennett: Indiana’s Donnelly part of ‘The Middle’ that got deal done (Terre Haute Tribune-Star) ### Press Contact Donnelly_Press@Donnelly.Senate.Gov | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |