The Ball Is in Democrats’ Court to Prevent a Government Shutdown

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INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING A CLEAN CONTINUING RESOLUTION, DEMOCRATS SEEM CONTENT WITH PLUNGING THE COUNTRY INTO A SHUTDOWN(Click here to download)Republicans’ continuing resolution (CR) “would keep federal agencies funded through Nov. 21 to buy appropriators more time to negotiate and pass fiscal 2026 spending bills. It does not include partisan policy riders or cut funding.” (E&E News: Republican push for funding patch hits Democratic wall – 9/17/25)“The measure is relatively clean, meaning it doesn’t have partisan policy riders. Democrats seem to agree, because they’re attacking what’s not in the bill…” (Punchbowl News: AM: Fed Day hits different this time – 9/17/25)Instead of supporting a clean CR, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is “demanding a negotiation over more than $1 trillion worth of health care-related policy changes and new restrictions on Trump’s ability to withhold funds.” (Punchbowl News: AM: Trump goes nuclear on shutdown – 9/25/25)“Democrats think they can force Republicans to repeal health provisions in their big budget bill this year.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: Chuck Schumer Courts a Government Shutdown – 9/18/25)“There’s no chance that Republicans are going to roll back OBBB…” (Punchbowl News: AM: Inside Schumer's shutdown strategy – 9/19/25)“During a virtual Senate Democratic Caucus meeting on Sunday, there was no noticeable shift in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s strategy, according to two senators on the call. It wasn’t contentious, added another senator, signaling that Democrats remain willing — at least for now — to shut down the government to get what they want.” (Punchbowl News: AM: Shutdown week is here – 9/29/25)Democrats are “hardening their stance. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said [last week] that a bipartisan health care agreement needs to be ‘in legislation’ in order for House Democrats to support any stopgap funding bill. Jeffries added that a verbal commitment from GOP leaders to address the Obamacare enhanced subsidy cliff wouldn’t be sufficient.” (Punchbowl News: AM: Trump goes nuclear on shutdown – 9/25/25)“Schumer has repeatedly emphasized his alignment with Jeffries following the March debacle. Schumer, though, would be hard-pressed to echo Jeffries’ comments that any deal needs to be in legislation, at least publicly. If Schumer takes that specific of a position, the veteran party leaders would look bad if he accepts something different in the end.” (Punchbowl News: AM: Trump goes nuclear on shutdown – 9/25/25)BY BLINDLY OPPOSING A CLEAN CR, SCHUMER IS HANDING THE KEYS TO FAR-LEFT ACTIVISTS AND CONTRADICTING HIS RECENT STANCES ON HOW BAD A SHUTDOWN WOULD BE(Click here to download)Back in March, Schumer said he voted to keep the government open because of how dire a shutdown would have been:“The bottom line is if the filibuster would have been used and the government shut down, the devastation would be terrible. You see, we’ve had government shutdowns before, but never against such nihilists, such anti-government fanatics as Trump, DOGE, Musk. They’ve given us a playbook, by the way. [Russell] Vought has already has written what he wants to shut down if he got a shutdown. Trump wanted a shutdown. Musk wanted a shutdown. Ask yourself why.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (3/16/25)“So it’d be horrible. The damage they can do under a shutdown is much worse than any other damage that they could do.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (3/16/25)“And finally, one final point here, and that is that right now under the C.R., you can go to court and contest an executive order to shut something down. Under a shutdown, the executive branch has sole power. So, in conclusion, I knew this would be an unpopular decision. I knew that. I know politics. But I felt so strongly as a leader that I couldn’t let this happen because weeks and months from now, things would be far worse than they even are today, that I had to do what I had to do.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (3/16/25)Now, “Schumer and his staff are closely coordinating their government shutdown strategy with outside liberal groups… The same groups slammed Schumer earlier this year for caving on government funding. This time, the Democratic leader is playing to his base.” (Axios: Scoop: Schumer's private war room on government shutdown – 9/26/25)“Backing down and helping fund the government, like Schumer did in March, is unacceptable, the groups have told his team.” (Axios: Scoop: Schumer's private war room on government shutdown – 9/26/25)“One senior leader from a top grassroots organization told us they have been leveraging the upcoming nationwide No Kings protest next month in conversations with the Schumer team. ‘You can either be a part of this movement or be irrelevant to it,’ the source said they told Schumer's team.” (Axios: Scoop: Schumer's private war room on government shutdown – 9/26/25)SENATE DEMOCRATS’ CONTINUING RESOLUTION WOULD REPEAL THE HISTORIC INVESTMENT IN RURAL HOSPITALS AND REINSERT WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE INTO MEDICAIDBy rolling back Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Democrats are fighting to eliminate a $50 billion rural hospital fund. (Politico: GOP boosts rural hospital fund – 7/1/25; Paragon Health Institute: Championing Senate Reforms and Countering Rural Hospital Hysteria in the Fight Against Medicaid Money Laundering – 6/27/25)“This unprecedented investment is designed to empower states to transform the existing rural health care infrastructure and build sustainable health care systems that expand access, enhance quality of care, and improve outcomes for patients.”(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program – 9/15/25)“The program has five broad goals — promoting preventive care and addressing chronic disease management, improving rural providers’ financial sustainability and efficiency, retaining and recruiting rural healthcare workers for at least five years, developing and implementing innovative payment models, and improving access to innovative technologies, including remote care and digital health tools.” (Healthcare Dive: CMS opens applications for Rural Health Transformation Fund – 9/16/25)Democrats’ CR also reverses important eligibility check requirements and reforms that crack down on Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and Main Street – 6/28/25)Democrats want a return to massive waste at the federal and state level:On the federal Medicaid rolls, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that 1.2 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program in two or more states. (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)CMS also found that another 1.6 million individuals were enrolled in both Medicaid and Obamacare in 2024. (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)“CMS estimates that the duplicate enrollment problem is costing as much as $14 billion a year.” (The Wall Street Journal: Meet the Medicaid Double-Dippers – 7/21/25)By pushing for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s repeal, Democrats want to give noncitizens a better health care deal than Americans receive and have taxpayers pay for noncitizens’ Obamacare subsidies, Medicaid, and Medicare. (U.S. Congress: H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act – accessed 9/19/25)The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ensures that noncitizens do not receive federal Medicaid benefits by strengthening Medicaid eligibility checks and prohibits parolee noncitizens and others from being eligible for Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare subsidies. (U.S. Congress: H.R.1 - One Big Beautiful Bill Act – accessed 9/19/25)Democrats’ CR would allow unemployed, able-bodied individuals without dependents under 14 years old to receive taxpayer-funded Medicaid. A May 2025 American Enterprise Institute study found, “[f]or Medicaid recipients who do not report working, the most common activity after sleeping is watching television and playing video games. They spend 4.2 hours per day watching television and playing video games, or 125 hours during a 30-day month.” (American Enterprise Institute: How Nondisabled Medicaid Recipients Without Children Spend Their Time – 5/29/25)The One Big Beautiful Bill Act established work requirements for able-bodied adults who don’t have dependent children younger than 14 years of age or a disabled individual in their care. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo Highlights Tax Wins for Hardworking Americans and MainStreet – 6/28/25)PrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram