We Democrats are notorious for engaging in circular firing squads where different factions of the party take political shots at each other. But the arguing over Senate Democrats voting today to avoid a government shutdown is unusually intense.
Yesterday I was surprised to see MSNBC's Chris Hayes, who I usually agree with, telling Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer not only that he was wrong to support ending a filibuster so a continuing resolution passed by the House that would keep most federal agencies funded at their 2024 level until this fiscal year is over on September 30 could pass with a simple majority, but that this was a betrayal of the American people.
Today Hayes said pretty much the same thing, along with two guests who, not surprisingly, agreed with Hayes. The three of them argued that a government shutdown was justified as a show of resistance against the horrible things Trump, Musk, and their MAGA minions are doing to federal employees and the agencies they work for.
I have a different opinion. I'm glad nine Senate Democrats and one Independent (King) voted to end a filibuster. As shown above, they were Chuck Schumer, John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto, Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz, Maggie Hassan, Kristen Gillibrand, Gary Peters, Jeanne Shaheen, and Angus King. But I respect fellow Democrats who think these lawmakers were mistaken.
It bothers me that so many Democrats are viciously attacking the ten Senators. This wasn't an easy call. There were good reasons to avoid a government shutdown, and there were good reasons to embrace a government shutdown. Schumer acknowledged that voting for the continuing resolution wasn't desirable, since it allows Trump and Co. to continue with their extreme, thoughtless, and often illegal attempts to shrink the federal government.
He just considered that a government shutdown would be even worse. I agree. Here's reasons I find persuasive for why Senate Democrats did the right thing today.
(1) Democrats are making progress at convincing the American people that indiscriminate layoffs of government employees and the arbitrary elimination of government programs is a bad thing the Trump administration is doing. So if Democrats said they need to shut much of the government down as a protest against Trump/Musk shutting much of the government down, this would sound crazy to the public. Which, in my view, it is.
(2) Courts have ruled that the Trump administration needs to rehire many workers wrongly let go for spurious reasons. A government shutdown would give Trump the power to decide which federal employees are essential and which aren't, seemingly making it easier for Trump to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
(3) Democrats hate it when they're in power and Republicans use the threat of a government shutdown to pressure a Democratic administration to give in on some political issues favored by Republicans. Now many Democrats have been calling for their party to do what they hate when Republicans do it. Government shutdowns are bad for the country, no matter who is responsible for one.
(4) Pro-shutdown Democrats have a fantasy that after a government shutdown has been in place for a while, Trump will have to negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government, enabling them to make demands that limit the damage Trump/Musk are doing to federal programs. Dream on. Just look at the chaotic way Trump is handling tariffs. He doesn't like to lose or feel like he's being disrespected. When he's pushed hard, Trump pushes back harder. Zelensky learned this in his Oval Office meeting with Trump. Rather than negotiate with Democrats, likely Trump would have let the shutdown continue.
(5) In line with the above, Democrats who favored a shutdown never clearly specified what the "endgame" would be. Republicans control the House, Senate, and Presidency. Today's Republican Party believes that the best government is the smallest possible government. Most Republicans in Congress, and certainly Trump, would be fine with a lengthy government shutdown. It's unlikely that they'd ever work with Democrats on a deal to reopen the government, at least not until a shutdown had done extensive damage to the United States.
(6) Other countries don't have government shutdowns. This is an American invention. It isn't something to celebrate, but to avoid.
(7) I'm fine with Democrats playing hardball. My objection is to doing this via a government shutdown. The nation's debt limit must be raised in coming months. That's a better fight for congressional Democrats, as the Trump administration will care more about preserving faith in the credit worthiness of the federal government than they do about keeping discretionary federal programs operating.
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