Democrats are standing firm in the face of President Donald Trump’s threats to leverage the US shutdown to fire thousands of federal workers and extract political revenge, with the two sides locked in a standoff that raises the prospects of lengthy furloughs and a prolonged disruption in government services.
The leaders of both parties are sticking to their talking points as the first shutdown in nearly seven years enters its third day. Lower-level negotiations have failed to strike a deal and another Senate vote Friday on a House-passed temporary spending bill is expected to fail.
The Senate is unlikely to hold votes over the weekend, almost certainly pushing the shutdown into the work week as the two parties blame the other for the failure to reach an accord.
It’s a turnabout for Democrats, who in March caved to Trump’s demands amid concerns that the newly inaugurated president was too powerful and popular to take on. Now, however, the party is betting that their efforts to protect Obamacare premium subsidies and reverse Medicaid cuts will resonate with voters — and that the fight is worth the pain of Trump’s hard-ball tactics.
“The vindictive behavior by Donald Trump and his Republican minions as part of this shutdown only serves to highlight the cruelty of this administration,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters late Thursday.
Hopeful signs earlier in the week of a potential deal have faded as Trump’s threats only inflame partisan sniping and embolden Democrats. During an Oval Office meeting with congressional leaders on Monday, Jeffries said Trump was cordial, addressed him by first name, and indicated support for fixing an American healthcare system the president agreed is “broken.”
Just hours later, Jeffries said he was stunned when Trump posted a deep-fake AI video depicting Jeffries in a sombrero. The House Democratic leader decried it as “racist,” but he acknowledged there’s no escaping negotiations with the president.
“Would I prefer to be negotiating with a more traditional Republican president? The answer would be yes, but that’s not the reality that we confront,” Jeffries said.
Long Fight
As the threat of federal firings loom over Washington, Republicans warned that the consequences of a continued shutdown would only increase.
“If they keep the government closed it will get more and more painful,” Speaker Mike Johnson said, adding any talks over Obamacare subsidies can only happen after Democrats vote to reopen the government.
Democratic leaders argue that Trump and White House Budget Director Russ Vought had already planned to try to gut federal agencies and conduct mass layoffs whether there was a shutdown or not.
Senate spending panel Chairwoman Patty Murray told reporters Thursday that any firings during the shutdown would surely be challenged in court. Murray and other Democrats have pointed to appropriations laws, which they say forbid the government from spending money during a shutdown on activities like preparing reductions in force and making severance payments to fired workers.
“A shutdown does not give the president any additional ability to fire people,” Murray said.
Democrats also point to Vought’s pledge to hold up $18 billion in New York infrastructure funding and $8 billion in clean energy projects in Democratic states as jeopardizing US jobs and driving up utilities prices — a record, they say, that won’t serve Republicans well in the 2026 midterm elections.
These arguments have helped underline Democrats’ resistance in the Senate, where Republicans need at least five more Democrats to overcome a filibuster of the spending bill. Three Democrats have already backed the legislation.
The most likely pickups for Republicans are moderate Democrats who voted to keep the government open in March and those in swing states. The list includes New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as Michigan’s Gary Peters, all of whom voted to fund the government six months ago.
Virginia’s Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are seen as keen to reopen the government given the number of federal workers in Virginia. Others swing-state senators who Republicans eye as potential flip votes include Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
Many of these senators have been involved in informal talks with Republicans, but distrust of the president runs high and Democrats say they won’t settle for what they consider empty promises from Republicans. Democrats see government spending as their strongest point of leverage, and the only way they can get anything addressing the Obamacare subsidies through the House, where Johnson opposes extending the subsidies.