Democratic lawmakers are standing by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s comments suggesting that the longer the government shutdown lasts, the “better” for the Democratic Party.
The Daily Caller News Foundation spoke with eight Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, none of whom were willing to criticize the statement from Leader Schumer on the shutdown’s political benefit for Democrats. Schumer told Punchbowl News on Wednesday that “Every day gets better for us” during the shutdown and voiced confidence that voters approved of the decision by Democrats to keep the government shuttered.
“They’re a little desperate to change the news cycle, and this is their latest attempt,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of Democratic leadership, told the DCNF regarding Republicans torching Schumer’s comments.
“I know how Republicans are trying to distort what he said,” Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told the DCNF. “But clearly what he’s saying is that we have an objective, which is to try to stop these health care increases from going into effect, and try to stop the lawlessness.”
The majority of Senate Democrats have refused to fund the government until Republicans agree to add on more than $1.5 trillion in new spending to any funding measure. Republicans have declared Democrats’ demands dead-on-arrival and refused to negotiate until Schumer supplies the votes to reopen the government.
The Connecticut Democrat then flipped Schumer’s statement and declared that the sooner the government shutdown ends, the better.
“Every day that we get closer to ending the shutdown is a good day, and the only way the shutdown is going to end is if Republicans decide to show up for work and they decide to talk to us about reducing health care costs,” Murphy continued.
Murphy and 43 members of the Democratic caucus voted against a bipartisan funding bill to fund the government for the seventh time on Thursday. With Democrats unwilling to restore government operations without having their demands met, the shutdown is expected to continue with no end in sight.
Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso slammed Schumer’s comments to Punchbowl on the Senate floor on Thursday.
“Who does he mean by ‘us’?” Barrasso, the second-ranking Senate Republican, questioned during floor remarks. “Not the military who is not getting paid. Not the Border Patrol who are not getting paid. Not the air traffic controllers who are not getting paid.”
Rank-and-file Republicans also sounded off on Schumer’s comments when speaking to reporters on Thursday.
“It’s disgusting — every day’s better for us? Every day’s worse for the American people,” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told the DCNF. “It shows you the mentality. It’s trying to score political points off the backs of the American worker.”
“It’s very sad to see someone devolve into a radical leftist that’s willing to sacrifice the lives of people instead of caring about his country because he thinks it’s a political game,” Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dodged a reporter’s question when asked on Thursday if he thought Schumer’s remarks were callous. Jeffries reiterated that House and Senate Democrats were “completely united” in their shutdown strategy.
Though millions of Americans are on the verge of missing a paycheck and some businesses are feeling the squeeze as the shutdown extended to day nine on Thursday, Democrats appear to be digging in for a prolonged fight.
“I think our message is resonating and connecting,” Democratic New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim told the DCNF. “I do think that every day that goes on, people are seeing more and more of the high cost of healthcare, and that’s strengthening our argument against the Republicans.”
Democratic California Rep. Jimmy Gomez also told the DCNF that federal workers, who are temporarily reporting to work without pay or facing furloughs, have personally told him not to pull back from the party’s shutdown strategy.
“What I hear from the federal employees, they’re like, ‘Do not give in. Do not give in,’” Gomez said Thursday. “Why? Because they know that they’re the target of Donald Trump’s DOGE. Did we forget about DOGE? Did we forget about Elon Musk attacking them, saying he was gonna take a chainsaw to the federal workforce?”
Caden Olson and Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.
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