WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was lambasted by Republicans Thursday for suggesting the government shutdown was “better” for Democrats, even as federal employees and American troops will be denied paychecks in the coming week.
Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other top GOP leaders tore into the New York Democrat amid the funding fight, which stretched into its second week on Wednesday.
Vance erupted on X in response to the Democratic leader’s statement: “Better for Schumer. Worse for Americans. What a vile sentiment from an alleged leader in our country.”
By Oct. 15, members of the US military won’t be receiving their regular paychecks — and hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be denied their checks as well without a vote to reopen the government.
“This isn’t a political game. Democrats might feel that way. But I don’t know anybody else that does,” Thune fired back, saying if “the Democrats would only agree, we could reopen the government in just a few hours, literally: Pay our troops; pay our federal workers; and stop this madness.”
“While we’re working to do all these positive things for the people and even settle conflicts around the world, the Democrats are playing games,” the House speaker added in a Thursday press conference. “It’s political theater to them. They’ve reduced Americans’ pain to a political prop.”
Schumer told Punchbowl News in an interview published Thursday of his outlook on the funding fight: “Every day gets better for us.”
In a subsequent statement to The Post, Schumer said: “Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown the worse it gets for Americans — and the clearer it becomes who’s fighting for them.”
“Each day our case to fix healthcare and end this shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way,” he also said. “They’re seeing why this fight matters– it’s about protecting their healthcare, their bank accounts, and their futures.”
Other Republican officials have also been planning for a shutdown long in advance as well — including Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought.
Within hours of the shutdown on Oct. 1, the OMB chief announced $18 billion in federal funding for the extension of the Second Avenue subway and construction of the Hudson Tunnel was being frozen.
Memos from Vought’s office have also telegraphed the administration’s willingness to fire federal workers the longer the shutdown continues — or deny some backpay when it ends.
Some members of Congress have been discussing a series of votes on standalone measures to take away either party’s leverage in the funding fight.
Senate Democrats have half a dozen times voted down the stopgap bill to fund the government until Nov. 21, in part because the continuing resolution didn’t include language to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.
Republicans have indicated willingness to negotiate a separate bill on those extensions, with New York Rep. Mike Lawler introducing such a bipartisan measure in the House earlier this week.
Others like Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) have also floated legislation to keep all US troops paid, even as the negotiations about other funding items continue.
A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday found that 70% of registered voters oppose the shutdown — and 65% said Democrats should vote for the so-called “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government for the next seven weeks.
Just 35% of the voters think the party should hold out and fight for “additional funds for Obamacare.”
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