Here we go again. Unless Congress passes a spending bill in the next 48 hours, the federal government will shut down at 12:01 Wednesday morning. And if it does, no one will be more responsible than Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Schumer’s still smarting from the last spending battle. Back in March, he reasoned that a shutdown would let President Trump, Elon Musk, and budget chief Russ Vought slash government payrolls even further. He heard from red-state Democrats wary of crossing the recently empowered Trump coalition. In Congress since 1980, Schumer knew that the party behind a shutdown typically loses the accompanying messaging war. He voted to keep the government open.
But the Democrats’ progressive base is not in a reasonable mood. What Democrats want is a fighter. A pugilist who will block and counterpunch, lampoon and troll. That’s Gavin Newsom—not Chuck Schumer.
