Democrats Thought They Had the Upper Hand in the Schumer Shutdown. WaPo Says They Just Fell Into a ‘Trap’– townhall.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Washington Post’s editorial board is worried about how Democrats might fare in the battle over the Schumer Shutdown, and they have every reason to be.
The editorial board published a piece on Wednesday describing how Democratic leaders rejected a short-term deal to avoid a shutdown after pressure from the progressive wing of the party. When Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) floated the idea of a seven-to-ten-day extension, Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) responded, “Hell no.”
Trump to meet with Project 2025 architect on cutting ‘Democrat agendas’ amid government shutdown – live | US federal government shutdown 2025– www.theguardian.com Source Link Excerpt:
Donald Trump is up and truthing as the White House presses on with seizing the opportunity provided by the shutdown to axe federal jobs and Democratic spending priorities. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump writes this morning.
He said he has a meeting today with Russell Vought, “of Project 2025 fame” who is now the head of the office for management and budget, “to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will betemporary or permanent”.
Vought was central to the Project 2025 blueprint and has been on a years-long quest to dismantle the federal workforce and consolidate power for the president. Since Trump took office in January, he has worked alongside the so-called “department of government efficiency” to slash through the federal government.
As we reported yesterday – day one of the shutdown – he’s already started slashing blue state infrastructure spending, cancelling $8bn in climate-related funding to 16 blue states and freezing $18bn for two huge New York City construction projects.
Here’s the post:
I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT
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Trump tells Republicans to ‘clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud’
As congressional Democrats hold out for healthcare subsidies, the Trump administration has repeatedly stated that federal workers will face layoffs while the government is shut down.
Late last night, president Donald Trump posted on Truth Social:
Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud. Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Democrats hold firm on healthcare demands as US government remains shut
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. We will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with news that a vote to end the government shutdown hours after it began failed on Wednesday, as Democrats in the Senate held firm to the party’s demands to fund healthcare subsidies that president Donald Trump and Republicans refuse to extend.
The tally showed cracks in the Democrats’ resolve, but the outcome also left no breakthrough, AP reported. Blame was being cast on all sides on the first day of the shutdown.
The White House and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep programs and services open, throwing the country into a new cycle of uncertainty.
At the heart of the issue are tax credits that have made health insurance through the Affordable Care Act more affordable for millions of people since the coronavirus pandemic.
The credits are set to expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t extend them, which would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for health insurance premiums, according to analysis.
Meanwhile, as the Trump administration insists it is serious about negotiating an end to the government shutdown, a pair of racist deepfake videos mocking Democratic leaders played on a loop in the White House briefing room for hours on Wednesday.
The videos, posted by Trump on his social media platform on Monday, use fabricated audio to make it seem as if the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, called Democrats “woke pieces of shit”, and showed the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, with a fake mustache and sombrero.
JD Vance, the US vice-president, made light of the tactic during a rare appearance in the briefing room. “I think it’s funny. The president’s joking and we’re having a good time. You can negotiate in good faith while also making a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats’ positions, and even poking some fun at the absurdity of themselves.
“I’ll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make the solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes will stop. I’ve talked to the president of the United States about that.”
Jeffries has denounced the memes as racist. Vance retorted: “I honestly don’t even know what that means. Like, is he a Mexican American that is offended by having a sombrero meme?”
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
JD Vance, the vice-president, used false claims to blame Democrats for the government shutdown as the White House warned that worker layoffs were imminent.
Donald Trump quietly signed an executive order on Monday in which he promised that the United States will defend the nation of Qatar by treating “any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure” of the energy-rich Persian Gulf monarchy “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States”.
Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, and both New Yorkers, accused the Trump administration of retaliating against their constituents by putting billions of dollars to revamp transportation infrastructure on hold.
Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said in a statement on Wednesday that “Donald Trump’s unlawful federalization of members of the Oregon National Guard could cost taxpayers up to $10m”.
The Trump administration said that it was putting a hold on roughly $18bn to fund a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey and the city’s expanded Second Avenue subway project – because of the government shutdown.
Donald Trump once again shared misinformation about Portland, Oregon, on social media on Wednesday, when he announced that the national guard troops he called up in response to a small protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) office in the otherwise tranquil city are “now in place”.
Lisa Cook, the US Federal Reserve governor, will keep her job for now, despite Donald Trump’s extraordinary bid to remove her from the central bank’s board with immediate effect.
House Republican on mass firings: ‘We have a bloated government’– thehill.com Source Link Excerpt:
Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) argued the mass firing of federal workers during the government shutdown could make sense, arguing Thursday that the United Staes has “a bloated government.”
Flood argued that it “makes sense” to have “some cuts,” but until he sees the detailed plan, it will be hard to know how it will affect the country and his home state.
In Every Government Shutdown, The Media Are Eager Democrat Helpers– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
If the national media can be counted on to spin anything dramatically toward the Democrats, it’s a government shutdown. They feel passionately that the Democrats are the Party of Government, and the Republicans are the Haters of Government, so who naturally favors shutting it all down?
Even before the shutdown occurred, NPR and PBS issued their poll warning Republicans would get more of the blame than Democrats. That’s why those partisan hacks deserved defunding. A substantial minority would blame both parties, because the independents told NPR “They’re just fighting like two little kids.”
Dems Want Free Health Care For Aliens Biden Refused To Deport– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
Democrats forced a government shutdown this week to preserve health care for illegal aliens who should have been deported by the Biden administration but were instead “paroled” en masse in one of the greatest abuses of executive power in modern times.
Under federal immigration law, foreign nationals who illegally enter the United States must be detained and deported. However, the law also grants the Department of Homeland Security secretary the authority to parole certain illegal aliens on a case-by-case basis, based on “urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit,” according to the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS). As explained by the USCIS, parole “is not intended to be used solely to avoid normal visa processing procedures and timelines, to bypass inadmissibility waiver processing, or to replace established refugee processing channels.”
Weekend votes ‘unlikely,’ Thune says, meaning shutdown could push into next week– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday that it’s “unlikely” senators will be in the Capitol voting this weekend, all but guaranteeing the government shutdown goes into next week.
“They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to open up the government, and if that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it, and then we’ll come back and vote on Monday,” Thune told reporters.
Thune’s comments come as congressional leaders and the White House remain in a stalemate on the second day of the shutdown. Thune left the door open to meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week but seemed skeptical that a sitdown would produce a breakthrough.
Hopes fade for quick end to shutdown as Trump readies layoffs and cuts– www.bostonherald.com Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown were fading Friday as Republicans and Democrats dug in for a prolonged fight and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.
Senators were headed back to the Capitol for another vote on government funding on the third day of the shutdown, but there has been no sign of any real progress toward ending their standoff. Democrats are demanding that Congress extend health care benefits, while Republicans are trying to wear them down with day after day of voting on a House-passed bill that would reopen the government temporarily, mostly at current spending levels.
“The Far Left barreled our country into a shut down, hurting all Americans,” a HUD spokesperson said in a statement. “At HUD, we are using available resources to continue supporting our most vulnerable. Why is the media more focused on a banner than repo – LinkedIn Source Link
Hakeem Jeffries Freezes When Confronted With Proof Of Healthcare For Illegal Aliens In Dem Plan– trendingpoliticsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was at a loss for words when CNN host Jake Tapper confronted him with the fact that some portions of the Democratic Party’s demands in the ongoing shutdown fight will provide healthcare for illegal aliens and non-citizens.
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have claimed that they are merely arguing in favor of a continuation of Obama-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are set to expire and additional healthcare expenditures for American citizens. “It’s a total, absolute [expletive] lie,” Schumer fumed while speaking with MSNBC on Wednesday morning.
Media Outlets Cut Coverage of Speaker Johnson’s G&A on Healthcare for Illegals › American Greatness– amgreatness.com Source Link Excerpt:
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is calling out media outlets for cutting off his remarks yesterday during a Q&A about Democratic demands to restore $200 billion in health care subsidies for illegal aliens.
Both CNN and MSNBC broke away from Johnson’s remarks during a press conference yesterday when the Speaker began citing the Democrat’s continuing resolution (CR) bill that contains $1.5 trillion in spending demands, including restoring $200 billion in taxpayer-funded health care benefits going to illegals.
BREAKING: Federal government enters partial shutdown after funding deadline passes | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com Source Link Excerpt:
“We are not going to be held hostage for over $1 trillion in new spending on a continuing resolution.”
The federal government officially entered a partial shutdown early Wednesday morning after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement before the midnight deadline, leaving thousands of federal workers facing furloughs and halting a range of government services.
A short-term spending bill known as a continuing resolution (CR), passed by House Republicans on Sept. 19, collapsed in the Senate late Tuesday after Democrats blocked the measure in protest over being shut out of negotiations and in a push to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies expiring at the end of 2025. The CR would have extended current government funding levels through Nov. 21 to allow more time to finalize the FY 2026 budget.
Senate Republicans are expected to bring the measure up for another vote on Wednesday, with more negotiations likely to stretch into the weekend. But for now, President Donald Trump and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have initiated plans for an “orderly shutdown.”
Democrats argued that their exclusion from talks and the GOP’s refusal to include healthcare subsidy extensions forced their hand. Republicans accused Democrats of holding the government hostage for new spending.
“There isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). “But we are not going to be held hostage for over $1 trillion in new spending on a continuing resolution.”
Mike Johnson Blasts Democrats’ Government Shutdown Hypocrisy– www.breitbart.com Source Link Excerpt:
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) put the Democrats on blast with their own words, showing their hypocrisy as they protested against previous government shutdowns while refusing to put a stop to the looming shutdown that will occur at midnight Tuesday if they do not compromise with Republicans.
Johnson has the following video playing on loop on a television outside his office in the U.S. Capitol, pointing out the blatant contradictions of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and more:
“It is not normal to shut down the government when we don’t get what we want,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor in 2019.
Almost exactly one year ago, Schumer apparently cared about how the government shutdown that he is currently hell-bent on forcing would impact average Americans.
Speaker Johnson Pushes Back Against Media Narrative on Government Shutdown › American Greatness– amgreatness.com Source Link Excerpt:
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is pushing back against the legacy media narrative blaming the Trump administration for the current government shutdown, putting the responsibility on Democratic leaders in Congress.
Johnson told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) decision to refuse to pass a short-term stopgap measure to fund the U.S. government for the next 7 weeks is a “very reckless decision.”
The Speaker emphasized that the House had done its job by send a clean continuing resolution (CR) to the Senate so that appropriators in Congress from both parties could continue to do their work on reconciling 12 separate appropriations bills.
After the Democrats made conditions on passing a CR bill based on such issues as assuring funding for transitioning children is restored, along with funding for USAID’s network of anti-American agit prop “NGOs,” President Trump shut down ALL budget negotiations. As the deadline looms (October 1, 2025) it appears increasingly likely the government will be shut down.
The Democrats are hoping their illegal campaign machine, the corporate media, will fill the airwaves with stories of people losing their benefits, but even some Democrats are warning that the party that prevents a CR passage over extreme party positions usually loses the PR war, even WITH illegal campaign advertising from the corporate media.
President Trump has upped the ante by threatening to lay off thousands of federal workers in response to the government shutdown. The White House budget office issued a plan of action in response to a government shutdown that will include effectively shutting down programs they are not legally compelled to continue. This will result in thousands of Federal workers being fired, workers in departments most likely infected with anti-American insurrectionists, aka Democrats.
White House budget office threatens mass firings if government shuts down – CNN Source Link Excerpt:
The White House budget office is telling federal agencies to prepare plans for mass firings in the event of a government shutdown, with instructions to target programs they are not legally required to continue.
The directive, outlined in an Office of Management and Budget memo to agencies and obtained by CNN, represents a sharp break from the government’s handling of past shutdown scenarios — and an escalation by the Trump administration amid a standoff with congressional Democrats over federal funding.
In the memo, OMB directs agencies to identify programs whose funds will lapse if Congress fails to meet the September 30 funding deadline and that have no alternative source of funding. Those programs should then be targeted for sweeping reductions in force that could permanently eliminate jobs that are deemed “not consistent” with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
“We remain hopeful that Democrats in Congress will not trigger a shutdown and the steps outlined above will not be necessary,” OMB wrote in the memo.
JUST IN: Trump Administration Threatens MASS LAYOFFS If Government Shuts Down– wltreport.com Source Link Excerpt:
This could be very big…
Ahead of a possible government shutdown on October 1st, the White House Office of Management and Budget has instructed federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs.
Thousands of federal employees — specifically in agencies that lack funding and don’t align with President Trump’s goals — could permanently lose their jobs if the shutdown happens.
Here are the details:
🚨🇺🇸BREAKING: TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS MASS FEDERAL LAYOFFS IN SHUTDOWN
OMB Director Russ Vought ordered agencies to prepare Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for “thousands” of federal employees if government shuts down October 1.
Democrats risk shutdown blame game with government funding hardball– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
But it’s a risky calculation, given Senate Democrats are using filibuster leverage to block a largely “clean” stopgap spending measure unless enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire are extended. It’s an annual scenario where one party invokes leverage over must-pass legislation, but only this time, the usual party roles are reversed.
Democrats are betting that Americans will blame President Donald Trump and Republicans. Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they still require bipartisanship to overcome the 60-vote Senate threshold to pass a short-term funding bill. Unless more funding is approved, the federal government will shut down on Oct. 1.
“They who run the Legislative Branch usually get blamed in the eyes of voters when something goes awry or there’s a shutdown of any kind,” said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who now chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.
“What matters is if there is a shutdown and all of a sudden your benefit checks stop coming,” Reinish added.
But there’s also a recent precedent suggesting that the party that supports extraneous policy riders is typically seen as responsible for shutdowns and emerges on the losing political end without significant wins. Republicans were bruised from the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which occurred in Trump’s first term and lasted 35 days, after the president failed to get any additional money to construct more of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in 2018 when Republicans controlled Congress.
Capitol agenda: Dems dig in against the GOP CR– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
Democrats say they won’t accept the stopgap funding bill Republicans unveiled Tuesday, further increasing the chances of a government shutdown Oct. 1.
“The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement, pledging to propose their own continuing resolution, or CR, that ties in an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies.
But in order to keep their leverage to force Republicans back to the negotiating table, Democratic leaders need to minimize defections — and purple-district lawmakers could take political heat if they vote against a government funding patch.
Frontline Democrats are set to huddle Wednesday morning with Jeffries to discuss their options, according to two people granted anonymity to share details about a private meeting. Reps. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.) are expected to press Democratic leaders during the meeting to push for any CR to include funding for local law enforcement efforts, as outlined in a letter shared first with Inside Congress.
Democrats unveil funding alternative to counter GOP in shutdown brawl– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
Congressional Democrats released bill text Wednesday night for their own stopgap spending proposal as they dig in against a House Republican-backed measure that would fund the government until late November.
The new Democratic proposal links funding the government through Oct. 31 to two of the party’s other priorities: health care assistance and placing limits on President Donald Trump’s ability to unilaterally roll back funds previously approved by Congress.
The Democratic stopgap bill has virtually no chance of passing the Senate — much less getting to Trump’s desk before the end-of-the-month deadline to avert a shutdown. But it allows Democrats to rally behind a plan that will win a broad swath of support among their members in the House and Senate.
“We invite Republican leadership to finally join Democratic leadership at the negotiating table, which they have refused for weeks to do, to prevent a shutdown and begin bipartisan negotiations to keep the government funded,” Congress’ top Democratic appropriators, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, said in a joint statement.
The Democrats’ bill would extend boosted Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that will otherwise expire on Dec. 31. It also would reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans enacted as part of their party-line megabill this summer.
Dems Are Desperate for a Shutdown but Have No Idea How to Get Out of It – PJ Media– pjmedia.com Source Link Excerpt:
Rehearsals for this year’s production of Shutdown Theater are nearing an end, and, with last-minute changes to the script, Democrats are at a loss.
They have no idea how to create a happy ending.
“We may not have the luxury of a victory scenario,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.). “I think what we’re trying to do is avoid things getting worse. I don’t think victory is in anyone’s hopes and dreams in this moment.”
Democrats, under enormous pressure from their hysterical base to “Fight! Fight! Fight!,” have decided on the Götterdämmerung approach: blow it all up and pick up the pieces later.
In other words, they don’t care if the voters blame them for the shutdown, or so they say.
When Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer was asked if he was willing to shut the government down, he said, “Ask the Republicans if they are willing to shut the government down.”
DC funding restored in continuing resolution plan– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
Washington, D.C.’s funding has been restored in a new draft of Congress’s continuing resolution legislation, averting the potential of millions in lost money.
House Republicans are trying to keep the government open through Nov. 21 and avoid a shutdown. While the current resolution does not hold any policy priorities favorable to either side, GOP House members said it does restore funding granted by the 2025 budget.
The past CR forced D.C. to rely on 2024 spending levels, which were millions below 2025 funds. While forecasts pointed to cuts near $1 billion, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said the cuts ended up being around $410 million.
Rare win for DC in Congress today. Draft of the CR was released and it includes provision allowing DC to spend its local budget. Last CR did not include this important provision resulting in @MayorBowser and @councilofdc being forced to cut $400 million from its current budget. pic.twitter.com/SbnsG4M5jc
The mayor’s office had been waiting for Congress to unfreeze the city’s funds to avoid cuts to city services. Bowser had instated hiring freezes, reduced non-personnel services, and pushed off or shifted costs down the line.
The CR, if passed, allows D.C. to maintain its 2026 budget plan.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has accused Democrats of “openly pining for a government shutdown.”
“We need responsible options here to keep the government open while all this work continues, and Republicans are committed to making that happen,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “Predictably and unfortunately, there are some Democrats who are openly pining for a government shutdown.”
Schumer And Jeffries Flat Out Reject Mike Johnson’s Partisan CR– www.politicususa.com Source Link Excerpt:
House Republicans offered up a seven-week CR that would keep the government open until November 21 and contains some funding for additional security for lawmakers, but did nothing to restore Obamacare subsidies or replace planned Medicaid cuts.
Johnson is planning a vote in the House on Friday on his CR.
The lack of anything in the CR to address healthcare meant that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outright rejected it.
Schumer and Jeffries said in a joint statement:
The House Republican-only spending bill fails to meet the needs of the American people and does nothing to stop the looming healthcare crisis. At a time when families are already being squeezed by higher costs, Republicans refuse to stop Americans from facing double-digit hikes in their health insurance premiums.
By refusing to work with Democrats, Republicans are steering our country straight toward a shutdown. President Trump called the play last week when he told Congressional Republicans to jam a partisan spending bill down the throats of the American people without Democratic support.
Instead of governing, Republicans are once again taking orders from Donald Trump, hurting the American people and recklessly marching our nation to the brink of a shutdown.
Republicans Are Forcing A Government Shutdown And Trump Will Be Blamed– www.politicususa.com Source Link Excerpt:
The White House thinks that the current government funding debate can be won just like the last one was in March. They believe that nothing has changed, and they can pass a bill to keep the government open by putting Senate Democrats up against a deadline with no negotiations.
The White House doesn’t see it, which is why Trump and his party are about to step on the rake and smack themselves in the face with a government shutdown.
The House Republican leadership plans to put a bill on the floor this week to keep the federal government open through Nov. 20, a strategy aimed at giving appropriators another seven weeks to hash out a broader spending deal for the FY2026 bills.
Republicans are saying the CR will be “clean” — free of partisan policy riders.
But as we’ve reported, the GOP proposal doesn’t include any of the Democrats’ demands. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have said they can’t vote for any CR unless it includes health care-related provisions.
It’s not clear if Democrats are demanding that Republicans renew enhanced premium subsidies for Obamacare or restore OBBB Medicaid cuts. Rather, Schumer and Jeffries have simply called on Republicans to negotiate.
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate Minority leader, led 9 other Democrats to cross the aisle to help a Trump-endorsed funding bill pass the Senate. The bill passed 54-46 and was later signed by President Trump. It increases defense spending by $6 billion while cutting non-defense spending by $13 billion.
The decision by Schumer to avoid the government shutdown over opposing Trump has led Democrats to call for his removal as minority leader. The key takeaway from the passage was an observation by some Democrats that the Republicans just followed their playbook. They froze the opposition out of negotiations and whipped the party to barely pass the bill, putting extreme pressure on the Senate to pass it lest they be the ones to be blames for the government being shut down.
The fact that another continuing resolution, rather than a fiscal year budget, once again kept the government, has some republicans questioning the leadership of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-AR).
‘Full of despair’: Senate Dems look to regroup after losing shutdown fight– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
Senate Democrats are bracing for a painful post-mortem as they try to avoid a September rerun of their latest government funding defeat.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and nine of his members helped get a House GOP-authored government funding bill to the finish line, saying a vote to advance legislation they loathed was the least bad option. The alternative, they argued, was allowing a shutdown that could empower President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to accelerate their slashing of the federal bureaucracy.
This was the first time since the start of Trump’s second administration that the party had real leverage to fight the president, as Republicans needed Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster. Democrats could have refused to put up those votes to avert a shutdown, but Schumer folded instead. This gambit is now raising internal questions about how Democrats will handle the next shutdown deadline at the end of September — and how they can avoid the same result.
Schumer’s strategy exposed major fissures within the party, marking for many of his members a disappointing retreat. It’s also raised questions among some Democrats about whether it’s time for the New Yorker to step aside — though no senators have publicly embraced those calls.
“We should do a retrospective,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). Asked whether his party lost some of its clout by acquiescing to the GOP’s funding bill, Gallego said: “That was my concern.”
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