With just over a month until government funding expires, Democrats remain divided on whether they should use the threat of a government shutdown as a political cudgel as they try to push back on President Donald Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk.
Key progressives want to use every point of leverage the minority party has at its disposal to push back against the slashing of federal agencies being undertaken by Trump’s budget office and Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”
“It is the Republican majority’s responsibility to gather the votes necessary for them to pass their agenda. I do not believe that Democrats should be helping,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “Given the Republican majority’s attempts to completely gut the federal government, any concession necessary for the Democratic Party to assist them in passing a CR must be incredibly substantial.”
“These guys are in charge, running around, bragging about a mandate, so they should put on their mandate pants and pass whatever they want to pass but if they want us [to help keep the government open], they have to work with us,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). This is about give and take — about a compromise. And if they don’t want to do that, then they’re on their own.”
But top leaders continue to take a more measured approach, with some in the party nervous about being blamed for a shutdown. They have emphasized a multifaceted approach that includes litigation, political messaging and a new “rapid response task force.”
That’s much to the chagrin of Democratic voters who are flooding congressional phone lines and want more forceful resistance out of their leaders. But with delicate negotiations still underway, top lawmakers have tried to keep the temperature down as they try to win concessions in private.
What key Democrats are doing instead is preemptively blaming Republicans for any brinkmanship. During a caucus meeting on Tuesday morning, Democratic leaders stressed that any shutdown would be the GOP’s fault since they hold the levers of power, according to two people familiar with the remarks.
“No House Democrat wants to shut down the government,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told reporters Tuesday morning. But he added that there’s “very little appetite to help Republicans when we don’t trust that Donald Trump is going to spend the resources that we’ve allocated.”
