Why Democrats’ Caving on the Shutdown Makes Opposition So Much Harder
After more than 40 days, Washington’s latest government shutdown is over. Unfortunately, the way it ended says something profoundly troubling about the current state of Democratic leadership, and has weakened our collective ability to build a strong and effective opposition moving forward.
Here’s what happened: A small group of Democrats (nearly all older, well-entrenched, and not one who is up for re-election any time soon) decided to fold. In exchange, they abandoned the singular demand made by their colleagues to not back down unless Republicans agreed to extend health care subsidies for tens of millions of Americans. They gained only a pinky promise from Republicans, that no one who has been paying attention to the operating ethos of the Republican Party for the past 15+ years would trust them to make good on.
Seven Democrats, one Independent, and one Minority Leader who either failed to hold his caucus in line - or worse, orchestrated this sell out of the American people behind closed doors in an attempt to save his own face - handed over the first leverage that Democrats had built over six weeks of painful but principled unity. The Detractor Democrats each cited reasons for caving that in ordinary political times would have been reasonable, empathetic, and even honorable. Unfortunately, these are not ordinary times, and in handing Trump and Republicans everything they wanted - in a moment where the pressure was finally starting to weigh on them - they betrayed not only their fellow Democrats and base, but the tens of millions of Americans who will stand to suffer far greater cruelty under this further emboldened, deeply undemocratic regime.
There are two key takeaways from this debacle, and both should concern anyone hoping for a stronger, more accountable government.
First, this was a failure of leadership. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s job was to prepare for, if not outright avoid, a shutdown by gaming out every scenario, communicating a clear public strategy, and holding the caucus together. This moment called for creative thinking and the sustained political courage to make tough choices in public, not broker backroom bailouts for moderates who were never invested in the fight to begin with. Instead, by allowing and perhaps quietly encouraging those not up for reelection to cross the aisle and break ranks, Schumer surrendered his own negotiating power, muddled the party’s message, and reinforced the belief of 63% of Americans who have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party.
Even more troubling, Schumer and these eight senators have set a loud and clear precedent for the Trump White House: Democrats can be sidelined, their priorities ignored, and they’ll still inevitably surrender without securing any bipartisan compromise. With this outcome, the White House now knows it can not only avoid any meetings with Democrats or meaningful negotiation to get what they want, but that leveraging cruelty in the form of increased economic pain is a highly effective weapon when it comes to breaking down Democratic resolve. This is what authoritarians do, and the only way to stop them from doing it is to stand your ground against their cruel agenda and maintain resolve amidst yes, some real, but short-term harm in the interest of preventing far deeper, longer-term harm on the American people.
Our ability to effectively confront MAGA extremism in Washington depends on discipline, strategy, and a willingness to fight for core principles, even when it’s hard, and especially when the stakes are life or death. Voters and activists deserve a party that learns from setbacks like these and a party leader that has both the moral clarity and the ruthless determination to pick the most strategic battles, hold the party in a strong, united front, and keep the MAGA Republican regime on defense.
The project before all of us today is to be extraordinarily clear-eyed about the explicitly shameless and cruel agenda of this administration and the complicit Republican Party, and to concede no further political or social ground to them, at any cost. The path forward requires a new strategy led by new leaders who have the courage and resolve to rise to this crisis with more than pinky promises and performative parlor games. And it’s up to all of us - especially those of us with access to the power players and structures that are holding us back - to demand that change happens now, before those same leaders risk us another election cycle by further infuriating and suppressing the millions of voters we need to shift power next fall.
- Tara
Pivoting to The Epstein Files
In other major news this week, Donald Trump’s struggle with The Epstein Files was (thankfully) back front and center, after thousands of pages of new documents were released tying the President to the notorious sexual predator. As we’ve done all year, COURIER has been educating our audiences about the breaking news and packaging the developments in easy-to-skim content for social media. Our national correspondent, Cam Stevenson, built a searchable database of the new documents, and yesterday, it was featured on the front page of Reddit.
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What I’m reading this week
Conservative Media Picks an Epstein Story Line and Sticks to It (NYT, 11/14)
“Right-wing outlets have focused on a single redacted name in the 23,000 pages of correspondence related to Jeffrey Epstein that were released on Wednesday.”
Is there already a plan to remove Schumer as Senate Minority Leader? (The Existential Republic, 11/11)
“This isn’t progressive activists alone. Mainstream Democrats, governors positioning for 2028, and voters across the ideological spectrum recognize this as a betrayal. When you surrender maximum leverage for nothing, everyone understands what it means.”
What to Know About Trump’s Battle With BBC—and How His Wider War With Media Has Gone (Time, 11/11)
“Trump sent a letter dated Sunday to the BBC threatening a lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages if the news organization does not publicly apologize, compensate him for “harm caused,” and pull the documentary, which contained the edited remarks and aired before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”