For a party that still seems totally devastated at what went on in the November 2024 election and giving the impression that it is yet to come to term with realities, the Democrats are facing perhaps the first major test in the next several days: the potential of a government shutdown by the end of the month.
From the look of things at the time of writing the Republicans and Democrats are literally miles apart in coming to any agreement on a Continuing Resolution with President Donald Trump calling off his talks with the Democratic leadership and the White House signaling preparations to lay off thousands of federal workers.
It is a drama that has often played out in Washington DC. Since 1976 the government shutdown has happened at least twenty times, ranging from one day under President Ronald Reagan in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1987 to thirty-four days under the first Trump administration in 2018 that had Republican majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In the last nearly five decades, Republican and Democratic Presidents with the exception of George W Bush have had to face this crisis at least once during their tenure at the Oval Office.
But 2025 seems to be different, not just in terms of the rancor going about in the political system but also the slow shifting public perceptions. On the one hand, the approval rating for President Trump is on the way down, currently at 41 percent. But approval for Democrats is even worse with Republicans doing much better than their opponents in almost every category, be it the economy, crime or immigration.
But when it comes to a government shutdown a latest poll from Data for Progress shows that nearly six out of ten American voters would blame the Grand Old Party and President Trump for a shutdown, not Democrats: 32 percent blaming President Trump and 27 percent Republicans in Congress but only 34 percent laying it on Democrats.
In the current face off, the Democrats are facing a different sort of a problem: a near rebellion, not in the rank and file, but from younger Democrats who see their party not standing up enough to President Trump and his ways of doing political business. In fact, there is a call in some quarters to get rid of the existing Democratic leaderships in the House and Senate with even some established Democrats still smarting over Senate leader Chuck Schumer perceived “cave in” during the last showdown this March.
Somehow the argument that Democrats in the Senate had earlier rallied to pass Republican stop gap spending measures during the Biden era does not seem to find many takers this time.
What riles Republicans is that the Senate Democratic alternative continuing resolution that would keep the government running till the end of October would permanently extend the enhanced health care premium subsidies that are due to expire this year at a price tag of US$ 350 billions over ten years. Added to this is that Democrats are seeking to restore nearly US$ 1 Trillion in Medicaid funding cuts of the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In spite of the tough posturing, the bottom lines are very clear: no one wants a government shutdown as the implications are too well known. Democrats are aware of the fact that President Trump could use a federal shutdown to further downsize government departments; and may actually holding out this threat to goad Democrats in the Senate to agree on the House plan. But Democrats, seeing their victories in two special elections in Virginia and Arizona, are looking at a perceived opening to bounce back politically. And Republicans may not want to bet their chances.
The Democrats are playing a different game this time around realizing in spite of veering around in Spring to Republican proposals, President Trump had continued with his cuts in the federal workforce in the name of trimming a bloated and unnecessary bureaucracy.
“President Trump will try to abuse a shutdown — just like he’s trampled our laws for months — but that doesn’t mean he gets whatever he wants as a result,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “This is nothing new: Donald Trump has spent the better part of a year chaotically and indiscriminately firing — and then rehiring — essential government workers.”
But Republican law makers too are wary of the threat to fire federal workers. “We must pass a clean, short-term continuing resolution to prevent a harmful government shutdown and allow Congress time to complete the annual funding bills,” said Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Federal employees dedicate themselves to serving the public, and they should not be treated as pawns amid a needlessly partisan impasse,” she said in a statement.
In spite of all that tough talking, there is a sober realisation in both camps that the mid terms of November 2026 is not too far off with the White House and the GOP bound to be apprehensive of losing their razor thin majorities in both the House and the Senate which will have a telling impact on President Trump’s agenda and governance. And for a party waiting to shake off its November 2024 debacle, a clean win in November 2026 will be a major boost for November 2028, irrespective of who enters the ring.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.
