He's not wrong. The most recent shutdown was during the Trump administration - for 35 days. We talk about Trump abusing emergency acts to gain extra executive power. What kind of executive powers increase when you shut down every agency at the same time?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/opinion/trump-musk-shutdown-senate.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/opinion/trump-musk-shutdown-senate.html
Comments
The neo-reactionaries want to dismantle the govt & burn agencies to the ground.
If you give them the CR, they will continue the rampage (though federal courts are fighting it).
If you shut down the govt, you simply hand them what they want on a silver platter.
Musk walked into the buildings in daylight last time. Now they would have the cover of darkness.
Destruction, chaos, disorder is exactly what they want. The Democrats would have NO leverage to reopen the government again.
None. Zilch.
the real question is why didn't Schumer make a big deal about this. Why didn't they make a HUGE fuss. When are they going to make a huge f*cking fuss? When are WE going to make a huge f*cking fuss?
They put in a bunch of gunk.
What if the house did that on purpose? To actually compel the Democrats to shut down the government?
For them it was a win-win. If the Democrats give them a fight, they get to hand over the keys to the castle to Musk.
They are playing powerless while actively giving up their power.
They want people to think they have no power to stop Trump.
Must see video:
Where they lose me is the rest of their choices in light of this reality. If we're that close to the edge, we need a legislative strategy beyond "wait til midterms."
Which is why, bullying Schumer achieves nada.
The courts are our best chance, & those might have been defunded during a govt shutdown.
Federal judges have been leading the fight.
All this “let’s protest the book tour”, “let’s not buy the book”…
Save energy for⬇️
We got Nazis and Commies and Climate Failure and peoples gonna die. We need to steer this ship back to shore.
End game is mass mobilization I think, Bernie and Walz out there laying the ground work by talking directly to people, other Dems should to do the same...
Senator Chris Murphy's take after budget vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOwhZQgXqcQ
He was clearly against a govt shutdown, but they were in some really long, tense meetings with lots of raised voices. (Reporters say).
They came out & said, we're doing the shutdown. We want the 30-day CR.
This is my guess.
The voters are mad. But it probably shows that they meaningfully wanted to try another way.
So they made an announcement that they would try to get a 30-day CR.
Then the next day Republicans - flat out said no.
So that's when Schumer said he wouldn't block the bill.
The 24 hour bluff was weak, though. I wouldn't have done that. I think they did that to please the other senators.
Like, "try this last ditch attempt."
I canceled NYTimes so I didn't see it then. Just saw it today.
& they were pouring buckets of water on your floors one by one...
Would you STOP their plan by getting out the biggest hose & flooding the whole damn house for them?
Is it a win to damage yourself first?
We need a coalition. And leaders who throw the coalition under the bus because they alone know what’s best for the country” are not the coalition-builders we need in this moment.
WE think that destruction is chaotic & self-defeating.
In fact, in their mind, this is the wrecking ball on a dilapidated historic building.
They're about to build a massive hotel instead.
The quicker they destroy, the quicker they build.
A party who wants to destroy the govt is in the executive branch, the DOJ, the house, & the senate.
If they shut down the government, they might never have gotten it up and running again. The coup might have been over.
The fight might have been lost in a heartbeat.
This is not really about reasoned arguments when you’re up against people whose only strategy is to exploit weakness. . Politics — especially in a crisis — is about emotion.
Srly,
What a dilemma!
But, on another note,
what a missed opportunity
to unify resistance even more.
We need to take actions
that create more opportunities
to unify the resistance.
When one comes along,
and choices are really bad,
make the one the resistance needs.