RECORD DATES TO FIRST TRUMP TERM
The longest government shutdown in US history stretched over 35 days during December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump’s first term in office, in a dispute over border security.
“All they want to do is try to bully us. And they’re not going to succeed,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech a day after a White House meeting with Trump and other congressional leaders that ended with the two parties far apart.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune described the failed short-term spending bill as a “nonpartisan” measure devoid of partisan policy riders that Democrats have had no problem accepting in years past.
“What’s changed is, President Trump is in the White House. That’s what this is about. This is politics. And there isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters.
Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but legislative rules require 60 of the 100 senators to agree on spending legislation. That means that at least seven Democrats are needed to pass a funding bill.
DEMOCRATS FOCUS ON HEALTHCARE FUNDING
Democrats are under pressure from their frustrated supporters to score a rare victory ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.
The healthcare push has given them a chance to unite behind an issue that resonates with voters.
Along with the extended health subsidies, Democrats have also sought to ensure that Trump will not be able to undo those changes if they are signed into law. Trump has refused to spend billions of dollars approved by Congress, prompting some Democrats to question why they should vote for any spending legislation at all.
University of Chicago professor Robert Pape said the unusually polarised US political climate in the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the growing power on the extreme wings of both parties could make it harder for party leaders to agree on a deal to reopen the government.
“The rules of politics are radically changing and we can’t know for sure where all of this is going to end,” said University of Chicago political science professor Robert Pape, who studies political violence.
“Each side would have to backtrack against tens of millions of truly aggressive supporters, their own constituents, which is going to be really hard for them to do,” he said.
Before the shutdown, Trump reached out to his own supporters with a deepfake video showing manipulated images of Schumer appearing to criticise Democrats, while top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries stood next to him, with a crudely drawn sombrero and mustache imposed over his face.
“It was childish. It was petty,” Schumer told reporters. “It’s something that a 5-year-old would do, not a president of the United States. But it shows how unserious they are. They don’t give a damn about the harm they will cause with their shutdown.”
Source: CNA
