Washington is staring down the barrel of a government shutdown after Senate Democrats blocked a stopgap funding measure that would have kept the lights on while lawmakers negotiated longer-term spending. The chaos is raw and avoidable — Republicans sent a clean continuing resolution to the Senate, only to be met with demands from the left that have nothing to do with short-term funding.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune made the point plainly on Fox, telling Jesse Watters that Democrats are politically cornered and, in effect, stuck because they insist on unworkable policy riders instead of voting to keep government functioning. Thune has repeatedly urged Democrats to “dial back” their demands and join Republicans in passing a short extension so people don’t suffer for Washington’s theater.
Let’s be blunt: this is classic Democrat brinkmanship — trading essential government services for political messaging. While bleeding-heart talking points about healthcare and other priorities get airtime, ordinary Americans face real disruptions if bureaucrats and critical services are idled. The fact that Democrats prefer a headline to a solution reveals a party more interested in spectacle than stewardship.
The White House even put out a memo warning agencies to prepare for layoffs and reductions in force if a shutdown happens, a sober reminder that the left’s gambit has consequences beyond cable-news talking points. Thune warned those consequences “don’t have to happen” if Democrats will simply step up and vote to keep government operational, a reasonable ask that the other side refuses for purely political reasons.
Republicans have offered a narrowly tailored stopgap — a clean CR that preserves funding while leaving contentious policy fights for later — but Senate rules mean Republicans still need a handful of Democrats to avoid meltdown. Conservatives should stop pretending both parties are equally to blame when the opposition insists on hostage-taking instead of compromise; this is a choice, and the choice has a name.
John Thune and Senate Republicans are right to call out the Democrats’ gambit and to prioritize keeping services open for veterans, seniors, and everyday Americans. Leadership means making the hard choice to hold the line on spending and to force the left to choose between governing and grandstanding, and patriots should applaud that steadiness.
If Democrats want to avoid being remembered as the party that shut down the government over political theater, they can still do the sensible thing and vote to keep America running. Hardworking Americans will remember who put them through this pointless mess, and come election day the voters — not the pundits — will settle the score.
