House Democrats are known to be wary of playing any kind of role in shutting down the government. Hell, they hate being perceived as having even considered the idea that a government shutdown could do them political good.
During the 118th Congress, they routinely bailed out a narrow Republican majority when GOP lawmakers just couldn’t pass their own agenda. But now, in the age of Elon and DOGE and with the latest government funding deadline approaching and the House Republican majority as narrow and fractious as ever, there’s real skepticism that Democrats will save Republican leaders from their own failures.
Republican lawmakers certainly are concerned, as evidenced by the fact that they’re already blaming Democrats for not bailing them out.
“Republicans do not have the votes to keep government open on our own,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.). “So if Democrats want to shut it down, they can.”
Such spin runs hard into some pretty obvious realities. As Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, noted to The Bulwark, Republicans hold the agenda-setting White House, comfortably control the Senate, and maintain a House majority, their whisper-thin two-seat margin notwithstanding. With a governing trifecta come opportunities but also responsibilities.
“Who’s in charge? White House, House, and Senate,” DeLauro said. “They got it all. They got the trifecta. Where are they? They can’t govern.”
While Democrats still don’t want the perception of cheering on a shutdown, the party has also grown convinced that it must secure some concession from Republicans in any government funding arrangement. House Democrats aren’t eager to cut a deal with an administration that has thrown government contracts, appropriated funds, and whole agencies into a woodchipper without lawmakers’ input, let alone consent.
Hey Dem politicians, it’s very clear. You do what the repubs always do when they’re in the minority. You vote against every. single. thing. they try to pass. You make speeches against every single thing they want to do on the floor of Congress, in every committee meeting, every town hall, every interview and every tweet. You also make sure to point out that repubs have the trifecta and everything bad that happens is their fault.
There is no moral ambiguity here, nothing to debate about, nothing to agonize over. “ooh we shouldn’t let the govt be shut down should we?” stop that! It’s already being shut down, you idiots–it’s being dismantled right before your eyes. If the question “should I go along with them on this one thing?” pops into your mind, the answer is NO. If you hear another Dem suggest going along with them on something, you slap that Dem in the face and tell them the next time they say that, it’ll be a punch them in the nose. Now replace Hakeem “wimp living in the past” Jeffries with Jasmine Crockett as Leader and get to it!
Shit has to get worse before it gets better. We may as well start now. Bring it on.
FFS yes they should, but they won’t.
Anything that slows down the wheel that crushes us is good, but the DNC doesn’t know how to do anything but hand-wring and give performative speeches.
They can’t do anything actionable without pissing off the megadonors. The same megadonors bribing the Republicans. And they’d rather lose than piss them off.
Following the Citizens United ruling, this was always the inevitable outcome.
Do literally anything you fucking clowns
So much this. “Should we?” Yes you should, fucking do it already.
I hate them so fucking much man.
Okay. How about this? For a moment, Dems should pretend they are the govenrning majority of the House, prepare a sensible budget. Then wait for either Repubs to magically come up with many of the proposals for themselves. Or bargain for them to control Congress.
Do anything other than give in and give up.
They will reject the handouts Republicans want for billionaires and then wait until the last minute and vote for it anyway.
At least that’s what they usually do when the Republicans want to fuck the budget.
If they had balls they would shut down the government until Trump is out of office.
