"Early in the week, as the government funding deadline approached, word got out that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer was floating a new plan with his members to cut short a shutdown: a week- or 10-day-long bill to keep the government open so discussions could continue. This didn't go over well, with progressive Democrats both inside and outside Congress loudly shooting the idea down."
"Although they certainly do want these things, they're not likely to get them by shutting down the government, and they know that. Health care is just the issue that polls best for them, and the issue they plan to run on in 2026. The real reason they took the fight this far is that congressional Democrats are under unholy pressure from their anxious base to do something, and this is the one thing they can do."
Senate Democrats abandoned a proposed short-term funding stopgap after progressive members vocally opposed it, fearing weakened leadership and a sign of wavering. Progressives remained nervous because Schumer had conceded during a previous March funding battle. Democrats repeatedly blocked funding legislation partly to satisfy an anxious base demanding visible action. Health care provisions serve as a central, high-polling issue and a likely 2026 campaign focus. The broader impetus for the shutdown strategy was political pressure to respond to perceived abuses of government power under Donald Trump.
Read at Slate Magazine
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