CNBC host Joe Kernen, a conservative, did not mince words during a Wednesday segment with Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT). Asked if he was ready to vote to reopen the government yet, Welch replied, “You know, I’m not there yet. Because we have had literally, Joe, no discussion whatsoever about how we’re going to deal with the spikes in premiums.”
Kernen, clearly exasperated, shut him down. “This is the right way to do it, senator? By people not getting paychecks at the TSA? This is extortion! … In your conscience, you think it’s the right way to do it?”
Is it hyperbole to call what Democrats are doing extortion? Hardly — it’s an entirely accurate characterization. On the eve of the shutdown, Vice President J.D. Vance told reporters, “You don’t put a gun to the American people’s head and say, unless you do exactly what Senate and House Democrats want you to do, we’re going to shut down your government.”
THUNE AND JOHNSON UNITED AGAINST TRUMP DEMAND TO NIX SENATE FILIBUSTER
We’ve seen a host of outraged Democrats caterwauling over President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to negotiate. Yet their demands — to undo Medicaid cuts and to extend COVID-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire at year’s end — are plainly unreasonable. Their position makes clear that Senate Democrats’ refusal to support a clean Republican spending bill is driven entirely by politics.
We know that because Democratic leaders have acknowledged as much. In a recent interview, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) admitted, “There will be families that are going to suffer … but it is one of the few leverage times we have.”
A number of Democratic leaders, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Martin Heinrich (NM), have made similar statements. Another Democratic senator who requested anonymity told The Hill, “People are going to get hammered” if they vote to reopen the government.
Democrats have put themselves into an untenable position. They know they’re playing a losing hand and will, sooner or later, have to capitulate — just as every party that forces a government shutdown eventually does. A review of past shutdowns underscores this point.
In December 2018, Trump shut down the government to demand funding for a border wall. Democrats, who had won back control of the House one month earlier, refused to negotiate until the government reopened. After 35 days, Trump backed down.
In January 2019, Democrats, insisting that protections for Dreamers be included in a spending bill, shut down the government. This time, it was Trump who refused to negotiate until the government reopened. The Democrats caved after a three-day shutdown.
In October 2013, House Republicans demanded that any spending bill include measures to defund or delay the Affordable Care Act. The standoff deepened when they refused to support an increase in the debt ceiling.
Then-President Barack Obama “vowed repeatedly not to pay a ‘ransom’ to get Congress to pass normally routine legislation.” The shutdown was resolved through bipartisan Senate negotiations. No changes were made to the ACA.
In December 1995, House Republicans forced a three-week shutdown to pressure then-President Bill Clinton into signing a balanced budget agreement. Suffice it to say, the move backfired on Republicans.
In every instance, the party responsible for triggering the shutdown ended up losing the fight — just as Democrats will ultimately lose this one.
We all know why it began. Well aware that Democrats would be blamed for the looming government shutdown in March, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted for the continuing resolution to keep the government open. Although he made the right decision, he faced fierce backlash from Democrats who accused him of caving to Trump.
Six weeks later, his favorability among Democrats had plunged to record lows, fueling speculation that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) might mount a primary challenge.
Determined not to repeat that episode, he chose to fight — but it hasn’t helped him. Never a particularly popular politician, even before his March vote for the continuing resolution, his current favorability rating in the RealClearPolitics average stands at just 27%.
Trump is not going to back down. Why would he? Just as the Republicans tried (unsuccessfully) to cripple Obama’s signature bill back in 2013, the Democrats are trying to kneecap Trump’s big, beautiful bill, the cornerstone of his administration’s domestic agenda. He won’t let them.
So, the question becomes how much longer the people hit hardest by the shutdown will have to suffer to save Schumer’s political future.
On Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employees’ union, called on Democrats to reopen the government. Surprisingly, the move failed to sway party members who are now dug in.
TRUMP URGES GOP SENATORS TO USE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ ON FILIBUSTER TO END GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
But the public has begun to lose patience with Democrats. Their automatic and relentless “resistance” to virtually every Trump administration initiative is wearing thin. We’re seeing this in the polls. As CNN data analyst Harry Enten reported on Tuesday, the net approval rating for Republicans in Congress among independent voters has increased by 8 points since the shutdown began. Among Republicans, it is up by 12 points.
The current shutdown was a serious political miscalculation for the Democrats. When they decided to pull the plug on the government more than five weeks ago, they forgot they were standing in water.