The federal government shut down operations deemed nonessential on Wednesday over an impasse about whether to continue subsidies for buying health insurance at current levels. The stakes are high. In the short term, 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed each day. Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that he’ll take the opportunity to make deep and permanent cuts to the federal workforce, so they’ll also have to hope they get their jobs back when it’s all over. Hundreds of thousands more whose jobs are deemed essential are expected to keep working for free until funding resumes. In the long term, if Democrats cave, many millions of people could see their health care costs skyrocket.
On Tuesday, ten hours before the shutdown was set to begin, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer stood behind a podium and addressed the assembled media. It was an important moment. What stirring words would the Democrats’ leader deliver as his party went into this fight?
Well, here’s how it started:
Before I get to my substantive remarks, I just heard something that Trump said. Here’s what he said: “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible and bad for them and irreversible like cutting vast numbers of people out.” Well, there it is. Trump admitted himself that he is using Americans as political pawns. He is admitting that he is doing the firing of people if, and God forbid, it happens. He is using Americans as a pawns. As I said, Democrats do not want a shutdown. We stand ready to work with Republicans to find a bipartisan compromise and the ball is in their court. He . . . when he says he will do things, he is taking ownership. He is taking ownership.
Top Democrats’ messaging hasn’t gotten much better since Tuesday afternoon. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, while a bit more animated than Schumer, often seems at least as bothered about a juvenile deepfake video that Trump posted parodying Jeffries as he is…
Auteur: Ben Burgis
