There’s an easy way to see who’s really responsible for the Schumer shutdown: just look at the media coverage.
Despite Democrats’ efforts to blame Republicans — who currently hold the House, Senate, and White House — the usual wave of sympathetic media stories about suffering federal workers has been conspicuously absent. The press has gone quiet while air traffic controllers, military personnel, and countless other federal employees go without pay, even as Democrats refuse to compromise and continue to dig in their heels.
Even the mainstream media is starting to turn on the Democrats over the Schumer Shutdown. CNN acknowledged this week that the prolonged stalemate has actually helped Republicans politically. ABC News went a step further, pointing the finger directly at Democrats for causing the impasse.
Now CNBC has joined the growing chorus of outlets and commentators urging Democrats to reopen the government and end a shutdown that’s hurting workers, families, and the economy — all while the party’s leadership keeps doubling down on its political brinkmanship:
Co-host Joe Kernen asked, “Are you ready to vote with the Republicans to reopen the government at this point, as a reasonable Democrat? Maybe others would follow you.”
Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) 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.”
Kernan cut Welch off, asking, “This is the right way to do it? By people not getting paychecks at the TSA? This is extortion! You think this…in your conscience, you think it’s the right way to do it?”
Noted one X user: “Between this and Tapper the polling must be absolute dumpster fire for them.”
No kidding.
At least three prominent Democrats — Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) — have openly indicated that their party intends to use the ongoing hardships facing Americans as political leverage in the shutdown standoff.
And as for Sen. Welch’s complaints about rising Obamacare premiums, it’s worth remembering how we got here. Democrats rammed through the Affordable Care Act in 2010 under reconciliation, promising Americans it would lower health insurance costs by $2,500 a year. Fifteen years later, the opposite is true: premiums have soared, coverage quality has dropped, taxpayers are footing the bill through subsidies — expanded again by Democrats during COVID, with a built-in expiration date.
Now, they’re using the impending subsidy cliff as a political weapon, trying to pressure Republicans into propping up a law that failed on its own merits. But that was always the plan. Obamacare was never the endgame — it was the stepping stone to single-payer, government-controlled health care.
Republicans have signaled a willingness to negotiate on the issue of Affordable Care Act subsidies but remain firmly opposed to what they describe as excessive new Democratic spending proposals. Those include roughly $1.5 trillion for expanded healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants, renewed funding for public broadcasters PBS and NPR, and billions of dollars earmarked for climate and LGBTQ initiatives abroad.
For context, the continuing resolution to fund the government failed in the Senate for the 13th time on Tuesday, with a vote of 54 to 45 – because not enough Democrats will vote to give the bill its required 60-vote majority.