Democrats step up talk about using shutdown as leverage against Trump

Source: The Hill

Democrats in Congress are growing louder with threats to force a shutdown in March to put the brakes on President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to overhaul the federal government by freezing spending and dismantling agencies. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers think the March 14 deadline for funding the government gives them the best leverage to pressure Trump and Musk to back off their plans to pick apart the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other agencies. But they are divided over how hard to push the threat of a shutdown, fearing Democrats might get blamed for a funding lapse that would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and interrupt government services across the country.

Democrats say they traditionally try to do everything to avoid shutdowns but now warn one may be inevitable if Trump doesn’t rein in Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I never support a shutdown, but I can see where it could happen in this situation. It’s an extreme situation,” Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said. Durbin, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointed to Vice President Vance’s comments over the weekend suggesting the White House may not heed court rulings blocking its executive actions as a major provocation. “One step away from a constitutional crisis. Let’s be very blunt about this: If he believes the executive branch can ignore the directives coming down from the judicial branch, it’s an invitation to a constitutional crisis,” he said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined protesters outside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which shut down operations Monday, to call for Americans “to fight back.” Asked at the Capitol on Monday afternoon whether Democrats should wield a shutdown threat as leverage against the White House, she argued Trump has already crossed that line. “Trump is shutting down government now, and it needs to stop now,” she said. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) came hardest out of the gate, declaring he’s not interested in supporting a government funding bill that would let Trump and Musk continue to “dismantle” the federal government. “I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we’re seeing when it comes to this administration’s actions,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“And for us to be able to support government funding in that way, only for them to turn it around, to dismantle the government. That is not something that should be allowed.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a leader of the House Democrats’ progressive wing, said House Democrats are willing to use their leverage over spending legislation — and the threat to tank it — to maximum effect. “If Senate Democrats don’t have the gumption to do what is necessary in this moment, I believe that House Democrats will,” she told CNN. Ocasio-Cortez believes Democrats should demand a “very high” price to agree to a funding deal in the next few weeks.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5137121-democrats-threaten-shutdown-over-trump-musk-efforts/