The government shutdown is showing no signs of stopping. But ultimately, Democrats will cave in and agree to end the shutdown, because their threshold for national suffering is much lower than the Trump White House.
except at the pleasure of the President target blue states And “democrat agencies,” Whatever happens, eventually the wheels will start coming off important parts of the government FBILast time it took about four weeks,
This means that the Democrats will have to abandon their Demand for Obamacare subsidies, And they will need a plan B. Luckily, there is such a plan, and it’s actually better than His plan a.
What if, instead, they demand something that President Trump hates but Republicans can’t say no to? As for the price of ending the shutdown, Democrats should demand the House epstein billCurrently under A discharge petitionThe Senate’s continuing motion will be considered.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can’t refuse because, assuming he ever allows, recently elected Democrat Adelita Grijalva take his seathe will be force fed Epstein files the bill anyway. Making it part of an otherwise-clean continuing resolution allows him to save face and make a virtue of the requirement.
A “Continuing Epstein Resolution” should easily pass the Senate — and it would be even worse for Republicans if it doesn’t. A a handful of senators have already defied Republican leadership and voted to release the files. My guess is that there are dozens more people who would be happy to see him released.
How could Senate Majority Leader John Thune refuse? Had he succeeded in blocking CR, Republicans would have actually owned the shutdown – even more so than them. back in 2019Keeping the government inactive to protect Trump from public embarrassment is a messaging war they cannot win.
Will Trump sign a continuing resolution that would require the government to release unreleased Epstein files? I don’t know, and that’s the best thing. Trump holding the entire United States government hostage because of Jeffrey Epstein, even for a short while, would be a political disaster. To avoid that box, Republicans might even agree to override Trump’s veto.
I suspect, in the end, that Trump will sign the CR and then extremely frustrate and delay the full release of the Epstein files. This is another huge victory for the Democrats, because it guarantees that Epstein will become the equivalent of Hillary Clinton’s email serverA political burden hanging around Trump’s neck that will dominate countless news cycles until the end of his term.
What will the Democrats’ base think about this plan? After all, they’ve been demanding for months that congressional Democrats actually do something, a need that the current shutdown fight is designed to, in part, satisfy.
I guess they’ll like it. This is a smart way for Democrats to score real victories, even if they are powerless underdogs. This is “Bugs Bunny” politics, the equivalent of handing the Republican an exploding cigar. Even people who want Democrats to fight about health care will think the idea is ridiculous.
The Democrats are doing a terrible job of pushing back against Trump because they have adopted the politics of the powerless. It is time to stand on principle and try to change hearts and minds and attempt a spectacular defeat with a pure heart. This is not that time.
At this historic moment, Democrats need to be less ideological and more effective. Although the Democrats have no political power, the Republicans are full of internal contradictions. Democrats need to start exploiting those contradictions and letting Republicans push against them. Offering to open up the government in exchange for releasing the Epstein files is an excellent start.
chris truex is an appellate attorney who has served as Chairman of the Southern California John McCain’s Primary campaign in 2008.
