Leading Democrats are fundraising off of the government shutdown — and blaming Republicans and President Donald Trump for it — despite voting against keeping government operations running, according to emails reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Senate Democrats sparked a government shutdown on Wednesday after rejecting a clean, bipartisan extension of government funding. Democratic lawmakers and top Democratic spending groups have sent a flurry of fundraising emails with donation links attached since the shutdown began despite the funding lapse jeopardizing active-duty service member pay, disaster relief funding and Americans’ access to certain healthcare services.
The House Majority PAC, a top Democratic outside spending group involved in House races, sent out a fundraising emailon Wednesday featuring an image of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, with text that reads “Republicans’ shutdown continues, and Barack and Michelle Obama speak up!” The email also states that “one of the most powerful and respected Democratic couples in HISTORY have stood up and called on every American to act before it’s too late!”
“That’s why House Majority PAC is uniting a HISTORIC wave of support to show Trump and Republicans that Democrats will make their government shutdown BACKFIRE!,” according to the email. “So top Democrats have agreed to 600% MATCH every donation to help us do it!”
A fundraising email penned by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday attacked the president for posting an altered-video of the minority leader donning a sombrero.
“He [Trump] just posted a racist and bigoted attack against me in a desperate attempt to distract from the Republican shutdown,” the email read. “When extremists fan the flames of hostility, you better believe I’ll respond.”
“I’m asking 786 supporters to step up and prove Democrats stand united,” the email continued. “Will you rush $15 before midnight to hand Donald Trump and his MAGA allies a stunning rebuke?”
Jeffries notably declined to say on Wednesday whether he would withhold a paycheck during the government shutdown.
Vulnerable House Democrats who are expected to field competitive GOP challengers during the midterms have also blasted out fundraising missives during the shutdown.
Democratic Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford argued Wednesday in a fundraising email that Republicans were responsible for the shutdown despite the Nevada Democrat voting against funding the government.
“Together, we can hold Republicans accountable and demand a government that works for the people,” Horsford wrote. “Thank you for being in this fight.”
Similarly, Democratic Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur wrote Wednesday in an email requesting donations that she and her Democratic colleagues in Congress have “been in Washington all week, doing our job: working to keep our government open and fighting to protect affordable healthcare for families in Northwest Ohio and across the country,” while Republicans “literally walked out.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House following nearly every House Democrat, including Kaptur, opposing a bipartisan spending bill to fund the government on Sept. 19.
Democratic candidates running for House seats in 2026 have also recently sent fundraising appeals attacking Republicans over the shutdown.
“Today, Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have shut down the federal government, and we will all pay the price,” Democratic New Hampshire House candidate Stefany Shaheen reportedly wrote in a fundraising email obtained by the NHJournal.
Shaheen is running in a contested primary to succeed Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas, who is vying to replace Shaheen’s mother, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in the Senate.
Shaheen did not disclose that her mother has voted against a House-passed bipartisan bill to fund the government three times. The retiring senator is expected to vote on the measure for a fourth time on Friday.
The DCNF also reviewed fundraising emails sent by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Emilia Sykes of Ohio and Eugene Vindman of Virginia.
Johnson told the DCNF in an interview Thursday that House Democrats have lost further credibility after voting to shut down the government and then immediately insisting that they are serious about reopening the government.
“Their whole existence is framed around messaging, no matter how false or misleading,” Johnson said. “The House Democrats are simply not being taken seriously by anyone at this point.”
Jeffries, Horsford and Kaptur did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. Stefany Shaheen did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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